Gatwick Express - hiding in plain sight?

[AlbertBeale]

The service uses GX branded trains and GTR take the view that tickets marked "Southern Only", "Thameslink Only" or "Not Gatwick Express" are not valid on it; they are likely to issue an excess fare to anyone using such a ticket.

Anyone who is charged an excess fare would be well advised to write to customer services seeking a refund on the basis that there is no provision for brand specific fares within the TSA/NRCoT. See dedicated threads on the subject.

What I find especially annoying is that the [alleged] ticket restriction on GX trains (ie not "Southern Only", "Thameslink Only" or "Not Gatwick Express") also applies when they're south of Gatwick.

However, tickets marked as being for "Thameslink" origin/destination [ie valid to/from any stations London Bridge - St P], as opposed to Thameslink route only (ie brand / colour of train [alleged] constraint) are valid on any train at all on a reasonable line of route (ie Southern/green as well as GX/red and Thameslink) and these provide the cheapest available tickets between London and Brighton, at the same prices as the "Thameslink Only" ones. And without needing to have the legal argument afterwards... Of course they're no use if you want to get to Victoria specifically, but are OK for other southern terminal stations ... since, eg, East Croydon - Clapham Junction - Waterloo - Waterloo East - London Bridge is a valid route between East Croydon and London Bridge.

The other evening, travelling from Brighton to London, I found the next train north (and indeed far and away the fastest service as far as Gatwick) was a red train. In the minutes before it left, there were repeated announcements about all the tickets that weren't valid on the service at all - not just for the journey after Gatwick. I had a Thameslink destination ticket; the ticket check on board the (almost empty) train caused the guard (or whatever the correct designation is) to pause only briefly, before reminding me to change at Gatwick. (Fair enough - on that ticket, unlike the "Thameslink brand" ticket, there wouldn't be validity with or without a legal argument, since the train was non-stop Gatwick-Victoria.) When I got off the GX at Gatwick to get the next other train north, I saw only a handful of people getting on board. The northbound train I did then catch (a Southern from somewhere or other towards London) was, on the other hand, well loaded - with people obviously having just arrived at the airport - in at least the carriages closest to the strairs giving access to the platform.

So yes - GX is a waste of space.

I'd have thought that the fact that it was usually non-stop Gatwick-London, and had extra luggage space, would (providing the premium fare was done away with) be sufficient for it to provide a useful segregation of passengers on that route, without also wasting capacity on a busy and sometimes overstretched line.

 

[Minstral25]

It has been suggested that, because of the fixed formation trains on Thameslink and the need to remove the 455s and 313s, the DfT / GTR are targeting cut backs on Southern services rather than Thameslink ones.

Probably also because Thameslink is taking a higher % of passengers than Victoria now, partly because of regularity of service and also variety of options to change for in Central London (at London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon and St Pancras). The options will increase again when Elizabeth Line opens in the next two months.

I note many journeys I used to go via Victoria are now easier and faster using Thameslink, plus from a subjective viewpoint trains I have travelled on the Victoria trains seem less crowded than Thameslink

 

[al78]

If Jack & Jill take the 10am GX from Victoria to Gatwick, Jill exists at Gatwick and is charged £20.60 while Jack changes platform at Gatwick and exits at Horley, Jack will only pay £7. Jack could then pay for a taxi to meet Jill at the North terminal and still have enough cash left to buy Jill a couple of drinks with the money he saved.

If Jack gets off at Horley, he could walk to Gatwick as he is a fit and strong healthy man and it is not far to walk. He would then save enough money to buy Jill lunch, which will accumulate brownie points in his favour for when he decides to propose to Jill that evening over a candlelit dinner.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2022 ==

Premium service means fast service. As long as the trains really get to Victoria faster the premium is justified. This is the reason HS1 charges a premium over low-speed rail as well.

Does that mean HS2 will charge a premium over the WCML services from London to Manchester?

The latter are over £100 so I dread to think how much a ticket on HS2 will cost when it is open.

 

[Minstral25]

If Jack gets off at Horley, he could walk to Gatwick as he is a fit and strong healthy man and it is not far to walk. He would then save enough money to buy Jill lunch, which will accumulate brownie points in his favour for when he decides to propose to Jill that evening over a candlelit dinner.

Or Jack could pay £2.80 for a single back to Gatwick on the train - 4 trains per hour too!