Victoria to Gatwick

[AlanFry1]

Hi all,

I don't really venture out onto this part of the forum very often but I need help.

Apparently Gatwick Express accept oyster cards between VIC and Gatwick. So do southern. I'm getting a morning plane, and an early morning train, so I'm leaving early.

However, I'm on a budget and I only have £23 pounds on my oyster card for there and back, which I thought was fine - until I heard it costs £20 pound using a Gatwick express but just over £10 using southern?

How do they calculate this, and is there a way I can use GX but pay the southern fare?

Thanks.

 

[MikeWh]

Hi all,

I don't really venture out onto this part of the forum very often but I need help.

Apparently Gatwick Express accept oyster cards between VIC and Gatwick. So do southern. I'm getting a morning plane, and an early morning train, so I'm leaving early.

However, I'm on a budget and I only have £23 pounds on my oyster card for there and back, which I thought was fine - until I heard it costs £20 pound using a Gatwick express but just over £10 using southern?

How do they calculate this, and is there a way I can use GX but pay the southern fare?

Thanks.

The actual fares are £19.80 at any time on GX and £14.00 peak, £8.00 off-peak for non GX. The way they tell the difference is whether you use the gates to platforms 13/14 at Victoria. If a normal Southern train uses p13/14 then you should be directed to use alternative validators so you pay the lower fares. If a GX leaves/arrives on a different platform then you can have a cheap ride.

Coming back from Gatwick you will need £14 on your card if you touch in between 0630-0930 or 1600-1900. You only need £8 for the fare if it's in the afternoon because you'll finish in zone 1, but the gates at Gatwick can't cope with that.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of whether I agree with what happens in this post.

 

[AlanFry1]

The actual fares are £19.80 at any time on GX and £14.00 peak, £8.00 off-peak for non GX. The way they tell the difference is whether you use the gates to platforms 13/14 at Victoria. If a normal Southern train uses p13/14 then you should be directed to use alternative validators so you pay the lower fares. If a GX leaves/arrives on a different platform then you can have a cheap ride.

Coming back from Gatwick you will need £14 on your card if you touch in between 0630-0930 or 1600-1900. You only need £8 for the fare if it's in the afternoon because you'll finish in zone 1, but the gates at Gatwick can't cope with that.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of whether I agree with what happens in this post.

Alright thank you very much

If anyone can let me know what GX trains don't depart from 13/14 at Victoria, this will be much appreciated.

 

[MikeWh]

Alright thank you very much

If anyone can let me know what GX trains don't depart from 13/14 at Victoria, this will be much appreciated.

They are all scheduled to depart from p13/14. It only changes when operating issues require flexibility.

 

[maniacmartin]

There are many Southern-branded services to stations beyond Gatwick that take a similar amount of time to the airport as the Gatwick Express ones (e.g. Often no more than 5 mins slower). As such I wouldn't worry about the Express and just take a cheaper Southern-branded service.

 

[Envy123]

stations Beijing Gatwick

I didn't know that Southern went all the way to Beijing.

 

[maniacmartin]

I didn't know that Southern went all the way to Beijing.

iPhone autocorrect and my fat fingers collided

 

[AlanFry1]

Does anyone know if you can get into platforms 13/14 through another platform at Victoria? don't really use the station often.

 

[yorkie]

Hi all,

I don't really venture out onto this part of the forum very often but I need help.

Apparently Gatwick Express accept oyster cards between VIC and Gatwick. So do southern.

They've not been separate entities for 8 years!

GTR accept Oyster cards, yes.

I'm getting a morning plane, and an early morning train, so I'm leaving early.

That'll be off peak then, assuming "early" means before 0630.

Are you getting into London by bus or train/tube?

However, I'm on a budget and I only have £23 pounds on my oyster card for there and back, which I thought was fine - until I heard it costs £20 pound using a Gatwick express but just over £10 using southern?

At off peak times, it' £19.80 if using the Platform 13/14 readers, or £8 if using any other readers

How do they calculate this, and is there a way I can use GX but pay the southern fare?

If a train departs from any platform other than 13/14 it'll be £8.

If a train departs from platforms 13/14, you can only pay £8 if the side gate from platform 12 is open.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Does anyone know if you can get into platforms 13/14 through another platform at Victoria? don't really use the station often.

Depends on whether or not the side gate between Platforms 12/13 is open.

If this is during the early hours, then they very possibly will be.

 

[bb21]

Does anyone know if you can get into platforms 13/14 through another platform at Victoria? don't really use the station often.

No, you can't.

Why do you even want to use GatEx? Just use a semi-fast/fast Southern service at a similar time. You have plenty of choices.

If you are coming from east London, you might even find it more convenient to just use Thameslink than going all the way into Victoria.

 

[BluePenguin]

There is an entrance at street level at the top of the stairs of the Gatwick Express platforms if these are easier to get to which Re often open and unstaffed. Tickets are not checked on board as there are barriers at both ends just so you know.

If you want to pay a Southern fare to use the Gatwick Express, then you can simply buy a ticket from anywhere to anywhere so long as the route you would take to get there is part of a permitted to get Gatwick. E.g any ticket that is "via Barnham" or for example Dover to Portsmouth. Most journey planners produce itineraries for through tickets like the ones from up North.

Most of the stations beyond Gatwick up to and including Brighton are routed "Not Gatwick Exp" to stop you from doing this, but you can (see Wikipedia). However it might end up costing you more plus the staff at platforms 13 and 14 are a force to be reckoned with with.

You might better off buying a Gatwick Express ticket on their website for 10% off if you want no hassle and insist on using it to save 1 minute. Not that I would do this though as a through ticket is perfectly valid

 

[talldave]

If you need to get around London then a Travelcard and Boundary Zone 6 to Gatwick ticket combination is often an economic solution. At this time of year, buy the Travelcard starting from Turkey Street and the platform 13/14 red gestapo will be very nonplussed (although it will work the barriers so you don't actually have to show it to them).

 

[tsr]

Tickets are not checked on board as there are barriers at both ends just so you know.

Tickets most certainly are checked onboard GX trains. This is mainly done by a team of dedicated Onboard Supervisors now.

 

[yorkie]

True, GTR now has more staff on board trains checking tickets, and that now includes their so-called GX route.

We may see more threads like this in future:

Southern admit they were wrong to sell GX "supplement".
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

If you need to get around London then a Travelcard and Boundary Zone 6 to Gatwick ticket combination is often an economic solution. At this time of year, buy the Travelcard starting from Turkey Street and the platform 13/14 red gestapo will be very nonplussed (although it will work the barriers so you don't actually have to show it to them).

That's especially apt given the OP lives on that line

There are various other valid fares which are reasonably priced too, especially at weekends...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

True, GTR now has more staff on board trains checking tickets, and that now includes their so-called GX route.

Is this at random? I ask because on Saturday I didn't see any on board staff at all; that was 12.30 from Victoria and 17.30 from Gatwick. Both were pretty much in the way of "fresh air express" load factors.