Brighton Gatwick Express headcodes

[ValleyLines142]

Does anybody know why the Gatwick Express services to Brighton now have 1Wxx headcodes for Brighton-bound services and 1Mxx headcodes for London bound services? Southern services still retain 1Axx headcodes in both directions despite going exactly the same route.

 

[700007]

If I was a betting man even though they take the same routes, it may be so that signallers can prioritise the GXs in front of the Southern / ThamesLink services where possible, especially during times of disruption.

 

[IrishDave]

I think it's mainly to aid regulation at Haywards Heath. Most of the 1Wxx / 1Mxx GatEx trains are scheduled to overtake a 9Txx / 9Sxx Thameslink service at Haywards Heath. Allowing the signaller to easily distinguish the GatEx 1M/1W that's overtaking from the Southern 1A that's stopping is probably quite helpful when something's a little bit late.

Furthermore, the extra GatEx trains in the morning and evening peaks that stop at Haywards Heath are headcoded as 1M9x (morning) / 1W9x (evening), to distinguish them further (all the other 1M/1W have numbers 00-89).

There has also been a move towards trying to make headcodes unique across the day, wherever possible; with all the Victoria-Brighton trains being 1Axx there would have to be two or three trains across the day with the same headcode. This way, there are no duplications in the 1Axx range, though there are still some duplications in the 1Wxx and 1Mxx range, so it doesn't completely fix the problem.

 

[Sunset route]

It was so that they don’t get mixed up with the regular semi fast 1Axx that used to run in the previous timetable, it was a request from the signallers at TBASC. Now whether they listened and acted on that request or they came to their own conclusion and changed them, we will never know, but at least the change was done. It also helps out with regulating at East Croydon.