European Railroad Discussion > London, England Gatwick Airport station

The Southern Railway has convenient service to and from London's Gatwick airport to Victororia station downtown as well as many other points such as Southampton cruise terminal via connection at Clapham Junction.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/24 20:18 by Roadbed.

---

---

Enjoyed the photos.

Made use of that service more than once between Gatwick and also as a "visiting commuter" during a London visit. The "commuter times" happened when we stayed in far suburbs of London.

DaleR

PS. Also had the pleasure of riding CNW Commuter trains on other visits, those times when staying in Arlington Heights. That brings back a memory of a real irony in my life's experience.. I grew up in Cincinnati and watched all the passenger trains come and go at Cincinnati Union Terminal for over 20 years. The irony is that seeing all those passenger trains out my back window I had to go to Chicago to actually ride a train.

DaleR

Well to be completely truthful my first train ride came the year i graduated from High School in Cincinnati. That summer I treated myself to the James Whitcomb Riley to/from Chicago.

Over the years I have used this station many times.  Earlier this month the hourly direct service between Gatwick and Southampton was discontinued. This service is now less convenient for people going to or from Southampton for a cruise or an Atlantic crossing.  The ticket office in this busy station has been closed.  The last time I was there about 10 ticket wickets were open and were very popular. . A friend was there last month and said it took longer to get a ticket from a machine than from the former ticket office.

DrawingroomA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Over the years I have used this station many
> times.  Earlier this month the hourly direct
> service between Gatwick and Southampton was
> discontinued. This service is now less convenient
> for people going to or from Southampton for a
> cruise or an Atlantic crossing.  The ticket
> office in this busy station has been closed.  The
> last time I was there about 10 ticket wickets were
> open and were very popular. . A friend was there
> last month and said it took longer to get a ticket
> from a machine than from the former ticket office.

Is there an app available so you can get your ticket on your mobile?

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there an app available so you can get your
> ticket on your mobile?

Yes, there are a variety of apps you can use to buy tickets.

The Southern Railway and the South Western Railway have their own apps.  I struggled to buy tickets from the states, but they worked just fine in the UK.  There are other apps available as well that sell tickets across multiple rail carriers.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Is there an app available so you can get your
> ticket on your mobile?

Not everyone has a smartphone and even those who do may find they don't work in a foreign country.  It is a regrettable decision to close a ticket office at a busy station that gets a huge  number of passengers flying in from far away.  The last time I flew into Gatwick I had to activate my Britrail Pass.  Fortunately it is permissible to travel to another station without activating it if there is no ticket office.  We almost always arrive by sea in Southampton (whose station does have a ticket office) and we fly home from Gatwick, so this doesn't affect us as much as it does many others.