Gatwick Express

Gatwick Express is a trademark of the British railway company Southern for shuttle services without intermediate stops between Victoria station in London and Gatwick Airport. He was an independent company until 2008 and has been a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis.

History

With the privatization of British Rail Passenger travel offer was organized into subnets, whose operation is to be awarded by the Strategic Rail Authority after the franchise principle ( national transport order). Gatwick Express was one case with only a single, approximately 40 km long route by far the smallest subnets.

Operator of the Gatwick Express franchise was since April 28, 1996 to 2008, companies Gatwick Express Railway Ltd, a subsidiary of National Express Group. National Express got the subnet over a period of 15 years and awarded Throughout this period, annual payments to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA ). In fiscal year 2004/2005 Gatwick Express launched 18.3 million British pounds from the SRA, which corresponds to 8.1 pence per passenger kilometer. In fiscal year 2004/2005 227 200 000 passenger kilometers were traveled in the Gatwick Express trains.

The end of 2004, the Gatwick Express schedule offer has been criticized by some web - user associations. It is alarming that on one of the most heavily loaded train routes in the country - partly underutilized trains would be offered for a special group in the quarter of an hour, while others suffered trains on the same route under capacity constraints (London Brighton ). The Strategic Rail Authority then examined the possible involvement of the Gatwick Express trains in existing connections between London and Brighton, to use the freed up additional train paths for commuter trains in the catchment area of ​​London can. This proposal was eventually turn from the Gatwick Express Railway Ltd. and the British Airports Authority - heavily criticized - the operator of Gatwick Airport.

2008, the Gatwick Express was integrated into the franchise by Southern, so it only still exists as a brand with no organizational autonomy.

Route network

Currently operate the Gatwick Express exclusively non-stop between London Victoria Station and the Gatwick Airport about 40 km south of the city center to the train station. Trains run up to an operating break from 01:30 bis 03:30 clock clock around the clock, during the day in 15 -minute intervals. The journey takes about 30 minutes.

Rolling stock

Southern currently operates for the Gatwick Express 24 sets of Electric Multiple British Class 442 and a Class 73 locomotive of the British to tow harmful traits.

With the acquisition of Gatwick Express franchise by National Express Group in 1996 initially the use of existing vehicles was retained. Dual Power Locomotives Class 73 horsedrawn carriage sets, which were formed from four to seven air-conditioned coaches of the type S2 and each with a combined luggage and driving car. The latter were created by conversions of older railcars of class 414. For replacement of older vehicles the company at the end of the 1990s has ordered eight new electric railcars of the British Class 460 at Alstom. These have now but again replaced under the new operator Southern by the said 442er.