There wouldn't be paths for that, and if there were, it would have been announced as a doubling of trains from Victoria to Brighton, rather than Gatwick.
How completely pointless, considering those extra trains will likely be carrying around fresh air as people have gotten wise to how much of a rip-off Gatwick Express is.
My only thought on it is that it doesn't tie up that many units, and they were looking for an easy to implement service 'improvement' to announce. I agree that it seems pointless.
Reinstating the service to what it was prior to COVID-19 and any passengers using it will be paying a premium fare, so revenue will go up which is what they are desperate for.
Isn't one difference these days that the Eastbourne & Littlehampton trains run as separate services rather than running combined?
Will the few extra passengers justify the costs of leasing the unit, electricity etc?I have used Southern services for many years, they are not much slower, cheaper and in my opinion have more comfortable seats. Thameslink is preferred for the part of London I am in. However these look positive. I hope that Welwyn Garden City - Sevenoaks all day is real rather than speculation. That will need some timetable adjustments, but the already announced Hertford - Moorgate will require the Welwyn- Moorgates to be move irrespective to keep the clock face between Hertford and London.
I would imagine the powers that be at Gatwick have been putting on the pressure for full restoration of the GatEx. It’s something that has been very precious to them for as long as I can remember and that walk up 15 minute frequency (same as Heathrow & Stansted) is a huge selling point regardless of the alternative London services every few minutes.
Be great to see trains running before 2pm on Sundays between Derby and Crewe.
That seems very positive. The new timetable is actually generally good but some obvious improvements such as that would be welcome. Praying they could also improve Lincoln- Cleethorpes to improve overcrowding and long gaps in the evening. (Although not sure if the have stock for extra trains)
I guess they have managed to get Network Rail to staff the various signal boxes for longer on a Sunday.
How does that work then. Will it be a Charing Cross-Cannon St circular? And what will serve New Cross and St John’s?
It's been rumoured the Cannon Street to Dartford via Blackheath and Charlton will return for those stations.
Pre-covid there were 16tph on the fast lines between Victoria and Selhurst. Reinstating the shuttle would bring it back up to 14tph.
Indeed and that resulted with the loss of the Victoria-Brighton operated by Southern.
Yes, the forerunner of the short lived Intercity Shuttle concept.
At Victoria, yes, but at Gatwick, not quite so much, and a worse position than now in that it will no longer be possible to alternate 4 / 5 for up trains, and 6 / 7 for down trains, which has been good for throughput.
7 boxes if I recall as well, including Egginton gate box.
Presumably quite a few changes will also need to be made to Southern diagrams out of Victoria now, as a few services have to use Platform 14 in the peaks now.
And even if you turn up at Victoria (rather than the most useful London Bridge) having just missed a Gatwick Express most passengers will board the next available Southern train for Littlehampton/Eastbourne/Portsmouth which generally will get them to Gatwick faster than waiting 15 minutes for the next Gatwick Express.
