Victoria to Brighton, valid on Gatwick Express ?

coxy · 28 Feb 2019

Hi,

Planning a trip from Taplow (TAP) to Brighton (BTN) on Friday 1st March. The ticket I'll be using is the Off Peak Day Return via London at £35.70

http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=TAP&dest=BTN&rte=200&ldn=1&tkt=CDR

At London Victoria, will I be allowed to use the direct Gatwick Express services that only call at Gatwick & Brighton, or will I have to use the slower Southern services ??

Many Thanks.
Coxy

RailUK Forums

Hadders · 28 Feb 2019

You can use any service between Victoria and Brighton, including Gatwick Express branded trains.

ForTheLoveOf · 28 Feb 2019

coxy said:
Hi,

Planning a trip from Taplow (TAP) to Brighton (BTN) on Friday 1st March. The ticket I'll be using is the OP Day Return via London at £35.70

http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=TAP&dest=BTN&rte=200&ldn=1&tkt=CDR

At London Victoria, will I be allowed to use the direct Gatwick Express services that only call at Gatwick & Brighton, or will I have to use the slower Southern services ??

Many Thanks.
Coxy

There are very few fares that aren't valid on the Gatwick Express, and this fare certainly isn't one of them. Effectively the only way a ticket wouldn't be valid is if it's an Advance tied to a specific other train (as you will never be tied to a specific Gatwick Express service as part of a longer-distance Advance).

You can certainly take the Gatwick Express with this fare.

I have to say though, you might want to take Thameslink or Southern instead. The seats on the former are just as ghastly, but at least the rear first class compartment is declassified and almost all trains are 12 coaches, so you have a better chance of a seat during the busy periods (e.g. evening rush hour). The latter have more comfortable seats, but admittedly they're likely to be more busy!

yorkie · 28 Feb 2019

coxy said:
Hi,

Planning a trip from Taplow (TAP) to Brighton (BTN) on Friday 1st March. The ticket I'll be using is the OP Day Return via London at £35.70

http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=TAP&dest=BTN&rte=200&ldn=1&tkt=CDR

At London Victoria, will I be allowed to use the direct Gatwick Express services that only call at Gatwick & Brighton, or will I have to use the slower Southern services ??

Many Thanks.
Coxy

There is no exemption from normal ticketing rules for GTR's Gatwick "Express" services; you may use any train.

coxy · 28 Feb 2019

Thanks for all the feedback. My concern was that GX at Victoria would stop me boarding because my ticket wasn't a GX product.

Hopefully the train out of Victoria will be very lightly loaded, and at worst it'll pick up more passengers at Gatwick.

On the way back I may give Thameslink a try, changing at Farringdon for tube to Paddington.

Regards.
Coxy

James Wake · 28 Feb 2019

coxy said:
On the way back I may give Thameslink a try, changing at Farringdon for tube to Paddington.

Definitely sit in the back first class section of the Thameslink train which is declassified for your journey back to Farringdon as it is much more comfortable than the normal standard class seats.

Hadders · 28 Feb 2019

coxy said:
Thanks for all the feedback. My concern was that GX at Victoria would stop me boarding because my ticket wasn't a GX product.

Hopefully the train out of Victoria will be very lightly loaded, and at worst it'll pick up more passengers at Gatwick.

On the way back I may give Thameslink a try, changing at Farringdon for tube to Paddington.

Regards.
Coxy

There’s no saying what any poorly trained staff manning the GX gate line might claim. The ticket is 100% valid.

coxy · 28 Feb 2019

Hadders said:
There’s no saying what any poorly trained staff manning the GX gate line might claim. The ticket is 100% valid.

That was my concern

ForTheLoveOf · 28 Feb 2019

coxy said:
That was my concern

No harm trying. If they reject the ticket (which seems unlikely to me, as they seem more on the lookout for tickets "known" to be "invalid", like Thameslink only tickets), then simply use the ordinary Southern service and put in a claim for delay compensation if you are delayed by 15 minutes or more.

Bletchleyite · 28 Feb 2019

coxy said:
That was my concern

I've never had that issue.

coxy · 2 Mar 2019

Pleased to report all went well on Friday. I just missed the 10:44 GX service from Victoria to Brighton (having spotted Orient Express in platform 1), so when I reached the gate line my ticket was rejected.

Gate line assistant suggested I should go to another platform to get the next direct Southern service, but I suggested that would get me to Brighton later than if I got the next GX to Gatwick and waited there for the following GX on to Brighton.

With this he waved me through and off I went.

One the way back I sampled Thameslink class 700/1 for the first time on a "long" journey. Rear 1st class was already full so sat in standard class all the way to Farringdon.

I felt the ride quality on the 700 was far better than on the 387 that morning. My cuppa was thrown all over the table due to vertical and horizontal movement. Possibly because the 700 was on a stopping service whereas the 387 was non stop.... can't say for sure.

Overall an enjoyable day out, and thanks for all your feedback.

Coxy

ForTheLoveOf · 2 Mar 2019

coxy said:
Pleased to report all went well on Friday. I just missed the 10:44 GX service from Victoria to Brighton (having spotted Orient Express in platform 1), so when I reached the gate line my ticket was rejected.

Gate line assistant suggested I should go to another platform to get the next direct Southern service, but I suggested that would get me to Brighton later than if I got the next GX to Gatwick and waited there for the following GX on to Brighton.

With this he waved me through and off I went.

One the way back I sampled Thameslink class 700/1 for the first time on a "long" journey. Rear 1st class was already full so sat in standard class all the way to Farringdon.

I felt the ride quality on the 700 was far better than on the 387 that morning. My cuppa was thrown all over the table due to vertical and horizontal movement. Possibly because the 700 was on a stopping service whereas the 387 was non stop.... can't say for sure.

Overall an enjoyable day out, and thanks for all your feedback.

Coxy

I feel the ride quality sometimes depends more on where in the carriage you sit than the actual rolling stock itself. I've never really noticed that any particular type of rolling stock is more susceptible to poor ride quality than another, but riding over the bogies in the body ends is a surefire recipe for rough riding in my experience - certainly compared to sitting smack bang in the middle. It's the reason you'll sometimes find me counting windows when deciding where to sit...

Hadders · 2 Mar 2019

Ride quality on the 387s is awful.

The 700s are decent trains - shame about the interior layout in standard class.

yorkie · 2 Mar 2019

coxy said:
Thanks for all the feedback. My concern was that GX at Victoria would stop me boarding because my ticket wasn't a GX product.

GTR's franchise agreement requires them to accept all operators products (not just products set by GTR) on all their services as per the Ticketing Settlement Agreement.

If they were to refuse to convey passengers holding fares priced by other operators, this would be a serious franchise breach. I know GTR have been caught acting incorrectly in several cases but this would be a step too far, even for them!

coxy · 14 May 2019

I decided to take a trip to Barnham (BAA) on Saturday, choosing the Via London ticket, and confirming with the Routing Guide that I could travel down to Brighton from London, followed by some Class 313 action from Brighton along the West Coastway Line.

My ticket was rejected at the GX barriers, and the person manning the gate said my ticket wasn't valid - reason given that these trains only go to Gatwick !! I pointed out that alternate GX services continue on to Brighton, but was again told my ticket wasn't valid since the train didn't stop at Barnham.

I asked if he knew where Barnham was ? Answer "no" !! Once I explained where it was, and how I intended to get a connecting train in Brighton I was let through.

Jumped onto coach 3 of 8, and had the entire coach to myself all the way to Gatwick.

Great day out though, just a pain having to justify why your ticked is valid - probably explains why GX seems to be shipping around air most of the time.

ForTheLoveOf · 14 May 2019

coxy said:
I decided to take a trip to Barnham (BAA) on Saturday, choosing the Via London ticket, and confirming with the Routing Guide that I could travel down to Brighton from London, followed by some Class 313 action from Brighton along the West Coastway Line.

My ticket was rejected at the GX barriers, and the person manning the gate said my ticket wasn't valid - reason given that these trains only go to Gatwick !! I pointed out that alternate GX services continue on to Brighton, but was again told my ticket wasn't valid since the train didn't stop at Barnham.

I asked if he knew where Barnham was ? Answer "no" !! Once I explained where it was, and how I intended to get a connecting train in Brighton I was let through.

Jumped onto coach 3 of 8, and had the entire coach to myself all the way to Gatwick.

Great day out though, just a pain having to justify why your ticked is valid - probably explains why GX seems to be shipping around air most of the time.

They're trying to save you back-ache from the awful 387 seats, don't blame them

More seriously speaking, it is of course ludicrous that they effectively suggest you must have a ticket to Gatwick to use the shiny red trains. They simply don't seem to have even acknowledged the possibility you might, for any number of reasons, want to break your journey at Gatwick, or even just change there to a Southern service.

robbeech · 14 May 2019

They’ll have either been told these are the rules or will have been told nothing so will be left to work it out for themselves which will often end up with them ‘learning’ the incorrect rules.

yorkie · 14 May 2019

coxy said:
My ticket was rejected at the GX barriers, and the person manning the gate said my ticket wasn't valid - reason given that these trains only go to Gatwick !! I pointed out that alternate GX services continue on to Brighton, but was again told my ticket wasn't valid since the train didn't stop at Barnham.

Yes this sort of experience is quite common (despite what some promotional videos say); I am unsurprised that the staff made this false claim.

coxy said:
I asked if he knew where Barnham was ? Answer "no" !! Once I explained where it was, and how I intended to get a connecting train in Brighton I was let through.

Glad to hear they relented in the end.

coxy said:
Jumped onto coach 3 of 8, and had the entire coach to myself all the way to Gatwick.

Not surprised; the service mostly conveys fresh air outside the peaks.

coxy said:
Great day out though, just a pain having to justify why your ticked is valid - probably explains why GX seems to be shipping around air most of the time.

Yes, some of the staff try to give the impression that they are a separate company who only accept their own premium priced fares, in order to deter people from using it.

Nothing ever changes with GTR's misnomer "Express" service.

It's unheard of for Greater Anglia staff to make such bogus claims with their airport express services, so there is absolutely no justification for GTR staff making bogus claims, yet they persist in doing so.

If anyone is incorrectly charged by GTR I am keen to learn the details and see the evidence, as any evidence could come in handy one day...

Victoria to Brighton, valid on Gatwick Express ?

coxy

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Hadders

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