GWR plan to run overnight North Downs Line (Gatwick Airport to Redhill to Reading) services.

[stadler]

GWR have applied to run overnight services between Gatwick Airport and Redhill next year.

Unfortunately the article is behind a paywall so i am unable to read the full details.

All i can see is this but the rest below is hidden:

GWR planning overnight Reading-Gatwick Airport trains

Great Western Railway has applied for a four-month trial of overnight services on the North Downs Line.

www.railmagazine.com

"GWR planning overnight Reading to Gatwick Airport trains."

"Overnight services between Reading and Gatwick Airport are set to be trialled next summer."

"Great Western Railway has applied to run North Downs Line servives on Friday and Sunday nights between May 2026 and December 2026."

It is interesting line to trial overnight services on. Just two nights a week is useless for airport workers. If it was seven nights a week then i could see it becoming a popular service with airport workers. I guess their aim is people taking flights but then again it is only useful if your flights are on those days. It seems a bit odd to just do two nights.

I also wonder how frequent it will be. Will it be just one or two extra journeys or an all night service. Hopefully it will be an all stations stopper to provide an late night airport service to all intermediate stations but i would not be surprised if it runs as a fast express only between the main stations.

 

[Snow1964]

It it is for airport workers then the Guildford-Reading section is likely to be empty.

If it is for passengers, why such a limited service, and why not run beyond Reading to somewhere else eg Oxford.

All feels half baked, especially as GWR doesn't really do anything to the busy airport in middle of its region (Bristol) where most trains start too late for the 5am-7am check-ins, or stop too early for the arrivals late evening.

 

[stadler]

It it is for airport workers then the Guildford-Reading section is likely to be empty.

That is true. But i suppose the trains have to get to or from Reading depot anyway so it makes sense to run these. I do wonder if these new overnight services are partly to get rid of the overnight stay at Gatwick Airport that the one unit has. Maybe it will just be one night journey in each direction.

 

[WelshBluebird]

All feels half baked, especially as GWR doesn't really do anything to the busy airport in middle of its region (Bristol) where most trains start too late for the 5am-7am check-ins, or stop too early for the arrivals late evening.

To be fair that will more than likely just reflect the fact that bristol airport itself is obviously not connected by rail like Gatwick is, and instead is primarily connected by buses for those who dont drive (which do run through the night).

 

[Benjwri]

To be fair that will more than likely just reflect the fact that bristol airport itself is obviously not connected by rail like Gatwick is, and instead is primarily connected by buses for those who dont drive (which do run through the night).

Yes GWR can hardly build a rail line to it. The buses serve it well, and many surrounding areas have a 24 hours bus to it.

 

[30907]

To quote said article

GWR wants to run up to three trains in each direction on Friday nights, and two on Sundays....[a Gatwick spokesperson said] "This is why we have worked with GWR to implement a trial of overnight services on the North Downs Line to enable more options, particularly to meet popular early morning flights – a key part of our strategy to encourage more passengers to travel to and from the airport by public transport,”

I imagine Saturday and Monday mornings are the busiest, and it leaves NR the other nights for maintenance.

 

[brad465]

Can Turbos handle it? Not in terms of capacity (which will be no trouble in the middle of the night), but in terms of putting them through more miles? They're already intensively used in the Thames Valley and North Downs line services; anymore miles could lead to more maintenance problems. This service maybe better rolled out if an influx of units is provided to the area, though the only prospect of this is GWR's large fleet order that hasn't been signed off yet.

 

[A S Leib]

Unfortunately the article is behind a paywal

You just need to sign in, not to pay anything (although not wanting to make accounts for anything unnecessarily can still be a deterrent).

 

[800301]

Can Turbos handle it? Not in terms of capacity (which will be no trouble in the middle of the night), but in terms of putting them through more miles? They're already intensively used in the Thames Valley and North Downs line services; anymore miles could lead to more maintenance problems. This service maybe better rolled out if an influx of units is provided to the area, though the only prospect of this is GWR's large fleet order that hasn't been signed off yet.

It will make little difference as they are all on millage exams anyway, not to mention the work they do now is nothing like what they were doing before the lizzy line.

I think more of the issue will be staff cover as they struggle to cover what they run now

 

[JonathanH]

I think more of the issue will be staff cover as they struggle to cover what they run now

Might it be easier to get traincrew to work actual services overnight, rather than having to do a night turn with three hours doing nothing? I note that the Redhill overnight turn wasn't covered last night, as the first westbound was cancelled this morning.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

If only this had existed two or three years ago, it would have saved my poor parents having to collect me from Gatwick in the middle of the night Taxi from North Camp is easy!

 

[800301]

Might it be easier to get traincrew to work actual services overnight, rather than having to do a night turn with three hours doing nothing? I note that the Redhill overnight turn wasn't covered last night, as the first westbound was cancelled this morning.

We don’t get to pick and chose our jobs based on the content of the work, if we did a lot less trains would run

 

[Krokodil]

If only this had existed two or three years ago, it would have saved my poor parents having to collect me from Gatwick in the middle of the night Taxi from North Camp is easy!

Provided of course that your flight was on the right day of the week.

We don’t get to pick and chose our jobs based on the content of the work, if we did a lot less trains would run

It's a lot easier to find Rest Day volunteers for some turns than others though.

 

[Minstral25]

To quote said article


I imagine Saturday and Monday mornings are the busiest, and it leaves NR the other nights for maintenance.

NR does its weekly maintenance at Redhill on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings.

 

[LUYMun]

GWR have announced the start and end dates of the Gatwick overnights, between 6 June and 11 September: https://wokingham.today/reading-to-gatwick-after-midnight-gwrs-overnight-trains-are-here/

GWR has announced it will trial overnight services between Reading and the airport along the North Downs Line.

This, it said, will improve rail access to the airport from communities along the line itself, the wider Thames Valley, and the rest of the GWR network including the west of England and south Wales.

The trial will involve GWR running overnight services on Friday and Sunday nights from June 6 until September 11 2026.

Services will run approximately every two hours and will call at Reading, Wokingham, Guildford, Dorking Deepdene, Reigate, Redhill and Gatwick Airport.

 

[The exile]

GWR have announced the start and end dates of the Gatwick overnights, between 6 June and 11 September: https://wokingham.today/reading-to-gatwick-after-midnight-gwrs-overnight-trains-are-here/

How annoying - it’s going to stop 2 weeks before I could use it!

 

[LittleRedTrain]

Pity it couldn't have stopped at one of Ash, North Camp, Farnborough North or Blackwater to serve the large Aldershot/Farnborough conurbation.
It's not like any of those stations need to be staffed overnight.

 

[cle]

All feels half baked, especially as GWR doesn't really do anything to the busy airport in middle of its region (Bristol) where most trains start too late for the 5am-7am check-ins, or stop too early for the arrivals late evening.

Bristol is not an especially busy airport, nor is it on the rail network. Buses are sufficient.

I do like this stopping pattern, it's how a third (fast) should be.

 

[Starmill]

Looking at the CAA 2025 data, Gatwick Airport has approximately four times the estimated air passenger numbers as Bristol Airport does. Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted have direct rail access to the terminal, and Luton, Edinburgh and Birmingham have access with one change via Luton Airport Parkway, Edinburgh Gateway / Haymarket and Birmingham International though. Bristol and Glasgow are therefore the busiest where the public transport consists only of bus services. Of course, the bus and coach services to the rest of the airports on the list are also almost as important as their train services are anyway...

At the end of the day, Lulsgate Bottom was just not a good location at all for an airport of such size, and to the region it serves, such high importance. There are few alternative airports. However that can't be changed now, so, Gatwick it is.

 

[FenMan]

Pity it couldn't have stopped at one of Ash, North Camp, Farnborough North or Blackwater to serve the large Aldershot/Farnborough conurbation.
It's not like any of those stations need to be staffed overnight.

According to Realtime Trains these services do stop at Blackwater and North Camp. Perhaps the press report quoted is Wokingham-centric?

 

[The Ham]

Pity it couldn't have stopped at one of Ash, North Camp, Farnborough North or Blackwater to serve the large Aldershot/Farnborough conurbation.
It's not like any of those stations need to be staffed overnight.

Indeed, the population is comparable to Plymouth and Milton Keynes.

According to Realtime Trains these services do stop at Blackwater and North Camp. Perhaps the press report quoted is Wokingham-centric?

That's good to hear.

 

[Russel]

Weren't GWR struggling to run a decent service on the North Downs Line during the day until recently?

Unless I'm thinking of a different route.

 

[JonathanH]

Weren't GWR struggling to run a decent service on the North Downs Line during the day until recently?

Unless I'm thinking of a different route.

They still have a handful of daily cancellations.

 

[Starmill]

Not being permitted to join the Reading services at Redhill is really bizarre. The 0135 departure for example connects perfectly off the 2306 Bedford to Brighton service. Not allowing passengers to board at unstaffed stations in the middle of the night is not particularly surprising but there is no reason to refuse people at Redhill, especially given that nobody is going to be standing on the platform instructing people not to board the Reading train while allowing people to board all of the other departures around the same time.

 

[LittleRedTrain]

According to Realtime Trains these services do stop at Blackwater and North Camp. Perhaps the press report quoted is Wokingham-centric?

Indeed, I read the original article on RailAdvent, which you'd expect to be more thorough than Wokingham Live, but it didn't list these stops.
However the GWR site itself states:

During the trial period, every Saturday morning there will be two additional services from Reading to Gatwick Airport (departing 02:28 and 03:30) and three additional return services back from Gatwick Airport to Reading (departing 00:30, 01:24 and 04:00).


Every Monday morning there will be one additional service from Reading (departing 03:24) and two additional services from Gatwick Airport (departing 00:24 and 04:00).


These services will also stop at key stations along the route including Wokingham, Blackwater, North Camp, Guildford, and Dorking.

Pity I don't live in walking distance of North Camp station any more, these would've been quite handy!

 

[Snow1964]

Weren't GWR struggling to run a decent service on the North Downs Line during the day until recently?

Unless I'm thinking of a different route.

Yes, this is link to latest GWR performance info, North Downs is route EF09

https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-website/files/about-gwr/what-you-can-expect/our-performance/GWR-Periodic-Web-Report-P2612.pdf

7.62% cancelled
Cancellations due to GWR 4.57%, so due to others 3.05%

70.44% on time, so 3 in 10 trains (of those that actually run) are late

Time to within 3 minutes late is 86.74% which is pretty good, but might be reflection of a timetable with lot of padding and slow journeys. Some trains timetabled to take over 90 minutes Reading-Gatwick

 

[Deepgreen]

I read this story yesterday and immediately took it for an April Fool. While the idea is a sound one, given the route's dire performance with the existing service, adding overnight workings seems extremely ambitious and doomed to fail. I hope I am wrong.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Apr 2026 ==

They still have a handful of daily calculations.

Calculating what?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Apr 2026 ==

Weren't GWR struggling to run a decent service on the North Downs Line during the day until recently?

Unless I'm thinking of a different route.

Yes!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Apr 2026 ==

Not being permitted to join the Reading services at Redhill is really bizarre. The 0135 departure for example connects perfectly off the 2306 Bedford to Brighton service. Not allowing passengers to board at unstaffed stations in the middle of the night is not particularly surprising but there is no reason to refuse people at Redhill, especially given that nobody is going to be standing on the platform instructing people not to board the Reading train while allowing people to board all of the other departures around the same time.

I can't see where it is stated that joining at Redhill is not to be permitted. If true, that's an especially stupid (and almost unenforceable) element! Why, also, can't passengers board at unstaffed stations "in the middle of the night" when they can already at unstaffed stations for the whole existing traffic day?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Apr 2026 ==

It it is for airport workers then the Guildford-Reading section is likely to be empty.

If it is for passengers, why such a limited service, and why not run beyond Reading to somewhere else eg Oxford.

All feels half baked, especially as GWR doesn't really do anything to the busy airport in middle of its region (Bristol) where most trains start too late for the 5am-7am check-ins, or stop too early for the arrivals late evening.

GWR is good at half-baked...

 

[The Ham]

I can't see where it is stated that joining at Redhill is not to be permitted. If true, that's an especially stupid (and almost unenforceable) element! Why, also, can't passengers board at unstaffed stations "in the middle of the night" when they can already at unstaffed stations for the whole existing traffic day?

Given that there should be staff on the trains (maybe you may want to change lighting duration at the stations, but that's about it) I'm not sure where the significant extra risk is.

Unless we should start limiting night time calling patterns during the winter too.

 

[Starmill]

I can't see where it is stated that joining at Redhill is not to be permitted.

The GWR journey planner, or any journey planner you may prefer to use.

If true, that's an especially stupid (and almost unenforceable) element!

It's almost always unenforceable, yes.

Why, also, can't passengers board at unstaffed stations "in the middle of the night" when they can already at unstaffed stations for the whole existing traffic day?

Because when one of the trains is cancelled they would be stranded with nobody to help with alternative transport arrangements. I would have said passengers should be able to board as normal at Guildford and Redhill however. During the daytime there would be other trains or local buses, and the worst case scenario of a two hour wait at Blackwater say isn't intolerable. But at 2am you can't really suggest someone waits there for two hours.

You could ask if they have considered not cancelling the trains, but I think we all know there's no possibility of that.

 

[The exile]

Because when one of the trains is cancelled they would be stranded with nobody to help with alternative transport arrangements.

So little or no different from countless other unstaffed stations late at night all over the country then.