The new train station at Gatwick airport, which cost £250 million, boasts five features that you won’t want to miss.

During the 1930s, the United Kingdom was a pioneer in interconnected transportation. Gatwick became the first airport in the world to have a direct link between trains and planes. This focus on integrated transport has remained a defining aspect of the hub, but the railway station built in the 1960s has become overcrowded and inconvenient for users over time.

Passengers now have increased space to move around since the reopening of a renovated £250m rail station at the airport’s South Terminal, which doubled in size, at 5:46am on Tuesday, November 21, 2023. This has significant benefits for travelers.

The decision to build Gatwick Airport at its current site was influenced by its convenient proximity to the main London to Brighton railway. In the 1930s, the former Gatwick Racecourse was transformed into an airport, and a tunnel was constructed leading to the terminal. This development was groundbreaking, as it allowed travelers to commute from central London to central Paris in less than three hours.

Currently, London Gatwick is the second most active airport in the UK. It offers 15 trains every hour to London, with some trains also traveling to Cambridge, Peterborough, and Bedford. Additionally, there are connections to Brighton, other areas along the South Coast, and Southampton. There are also trains to Reading for those seeking connections to the West of England.

Britain’s airports are experiencing a resurgence in activity. The number of passengers arriving and departing by air is quickly approaching, and in some cases surpassing, the levels seen before the pandemic. Those who have visited a British airport in the last six months have likely noticed an increase in congestion.

As Covid restrictions ease, Gatwick airport’s rail station is seeing a return to its pre-pandemic daily passenger count of 60,000. However, the limited space posed a challenge, requiring an innovative approach. The high volume of passengers led to congestion and delays in boarding, causing disruptions that affected the Southern and Thameslink networks.

The main designer, Jordan Gill, stated that there were problems with safety, overcrowding, and the overall passenger satisfaction at Gatwick.

Increasing the available floor area by two times and dividing incoming and outgoing travelers instead of having them all gathered in one place. There are a total of eight new moving staircases and five extra-large elevators designed for passengers with restricted movement or carrying bulky baggage, as well as families with young kids.

The platforms have been expanded in width. This is expected to facilitate faster boarding and alighting of passengers, ultimately leading to improved punctuality for those waiting along the train line.

The new arrivals space is designed to work intuitively, using the airport’s style for signage rather than the traditional rail approach.

The majority of the expenses (£200m) were paid for by the taxpayer. London Gatwick Airport contributed £42m, while the remaining amount was provided by an organization called Coast to Capital.

The construction of Inverness airport station, which was completed and opened this year, cost only £15m. However, additional railway improvements such as a passing loop and extra track increased the total cost to £27m. Despite this, it was still a relatively smaller project in comparison.

The renovation at Gatwick Airport had to be completed while the railway was still operational and with the airport being open 24 hours a day. There were also various limitations, such as the maximum height of cranes due to airspace regulations.

The recently added station is a part of Gatwick’s goal to have three out of five passengers arrive at the airport through public or ultra-low emission transportation by 2030. At present, 40% of passengers arrive by rail, almost twice the amount from twenty years ago.

Simpler train entry is one incentive, while the newly implemented £5 fee for drop-offs at the terminal serves as a deterrent.

Yes, there has been a decrease of approximately 20 percent in rail passengers across the network. However, it is likely that Gatwick’s decline is not as significant due to the strong recovery of the aviation industry.

According to Stewart Wingate, the CEO of the airport, approximately 41 million passengers will pass through this year. This means we have recovered about 90% compared to 2019 for the entire year. We are highly optimistic about the airport’s potential for future growth.

In the future, our goal is to utilize our northern runway on a regular basis. We are currently in the process of planning for this and expect to be reviewed in 2024. The government will make a decision about this around this time next year.

In the late 2030s, our number of passengers could potentially reach 78 million.

Indeed, it can also be a fairly enjoyable 15-minute stroll.

Passengers who rely on Gatwick for transportation will be affected twice. This will occur on Sunday, December 3rd, when Thameslink train operators go on strike, and on Wednesday, December 6th, when Aslef workers for Gatwick Express and Southern will also walk out.

However, there will still be a significant amount of trains running for mainline passengers traveling between London, Gatwick, and Brighton. These trains may be heavily populated, particularly during morning hours. If you are attempting to make connections from other areas of England, it may be chaotic throughout the period of December 1st to 9th.

Listen to Simon Calder’s podcast report from the new Gatwick station

Source: independent.co.uk