Gatwick Express.... or not....

[whole diary]

[johoare]

I was on the Victoria to Brighton train earlier.. It didn't stop at Gatwick... About ten minutes before Brighton another passenger was asking people on the train if she'd missed Gatwick..Which she had obviously..Since we didn't even stop there..

I didn't think too much of it at the time, other than wondering how she'd got on a train that wasn't stopping where she wanted to get off.. Until  (much later) I remembered that the "Southern" train that we were on was branded as "Gatwick Express".. It made me wonder how many other people that has confused?

[inspector_blakey]

Oh dear!

I'm not very familiar with that neck of the woods but I have a hunch that GEx-branded units are normally restricted to those services (some of which do extend all the way to Brighton, but call at Gatwick en route). So I wonder if that unit being on a service that didn't call at Gatwick was a substitution due to a failed unit elsewhere.

[Rhydgaled]

I thought Southern were removing the 'Gatwick' from the branding so it only said 'Express' to counter just this sort of confusion, since the 5-WESes started being used on non-Gatwick services.

[JayMac]

Certainly the one I caught a couple weeks back from London Bridge was only branded 'Express' as wasn't scheduled to call at Gatwick.

[westerleigh]

About half of the fast Victoria to Brighton trains are 442s. Occasionally I've seen these leave from the Gatwick Express platforms at Victoria too.

[Electric train]

It is quite common for 442's to work the "Fasts" to and from Brighton I have been several lately, I think it may be a couple of diagrams to move stock about / utilise drivers.  Great fun (not) at east Croydon and Clapham Jcn the 442 door arrangement is not designed for quick disembarkation / embarkation

[Btline]

Fast Brightons are branded "Brighton Express" in the timetable.

Why do they still pretend to be the express service and charge higher prices? They are part of Southern and Thameslink is actually QUICKER to London than the Gatwick Express. Southern is only 2 minutes slower.

Also, if you have a "Southern only" ticket, are you allowed on the Gatwick Express south of Gatwick? (in the peaks)

Just like Heathrow, I think it's time to axe the Gatwick Express and free up the paths.

[Electric train]

When I referred to "fasts" perhaps I should have said limited stops, typically Hayward's Heath, East Croydon and Clapham and it might be a stock working of the Brighton Expresses that the 442's are working instead of them working ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock)

[Surrey 455]

What Jo observed, I also saw happen last summer. It was on the same ex Gatwick Express which others have correctly pointed out has had the word Gatwick removed.

A couple just in front of me had got on at Victoria I think, I got on at Clapham Junction. After departing East Croydon they were a little concerned to see on the display "Next station: Brighton". The girlfriend very upset with her boyfriend- "How could you be so stupid as to get us on the wrong train - My 14 year old brother will be all alone waiting for us at Gatwick and he doesn't speak English". Cue lots of apologies from the boyfriend and anxious phone calls to friends and family - "Can you pick him up from the airport for us? It's going to be about an hour or so before we can get back!" Then lots of not talking to each other then sitting apart.

I suppose if you've caught or seen these trains before going to Gatwick you may not notice the slight change of branding and could easily make the same mistake.

I've done it myself at Ealing Broadway. Got on a westbound turbo which pulled in at the time I was expecting my train to arrive only to find it went past my stop. Turns out trains were delayed and I probably would have known that if I'd bothered to check the screens.