"The organisation Railfuture argues that Gatwick Express trains run with spare capacity because regular travellers know that Southern and Thameslink services are much cheaper and comparable in travel times. However, the conventional train services are themselves overcrowded, which makes the partially used Gatwick Express potentially look like a luxury on the busy railway link between the airport and central London."
"They argue that it would lift the Gatwick Express branded service from two trains an hour to eight trains an hour between Gatwick and Victoria stations - while also freeing up two trains an hour for general passenger use. The impetus for their letter calling for change is the recently approved plans for a second full runway at Gatwick Airport."
"They also want the all-nighter service restored to Victoria rather than Blackfriars due to better onward connections, and for consideration of Southern services running fast to Gatwick that also call at Clapham Junction. The lobby groups say that this would relieve overcrowded Southern services to Gatwick Airport at both Victoria and Clapham Junction - and integrating existing Gatwick Express trains into the Southern fleet could assist with luggage provision."
Railfuture calls for Gatwick Express dedicated trains to be folded into standard Southern services to increase capacity on the busy Brighton Mainline. Regular travellers choose cheaper Southern and Thameslink services, leaving Gatwick Express trains underused despite overcrowding on conventional services. Integrating the dedicated trains could raise Gatwick-branded fast services from two to eight trains per hour between Gatwick and Victoria and free two trains per hour for general passenger use. The proposal links to Gatwick Airport’s second-runway plans and public-transport commitments, and includes restoring the all-nighter to Victoria, considering fast Southern calls at Clapham Junction, and improving luggage provision.
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