Gatwick Airport area Easter 2022 timetable amendments

[concerned1]

Just wondered if anyone had any knowledge on the likely timetable arrangements in the Gatwick Airport area over Easter this year? I would need to arrive by 08.00am on Easter Sunday morning (24th April) for a 10.00am flight but not sure if any services will be running that early. (I’m assuming this is a complete non-starter due to the triple whammy of covid, Easter Sunday and the traditional Easter engineering blockades)

Travelling down from Bedford/Milton Keynes area, and trying to avoid parking at the airport.

Thameslink from Harlington or GWR from Dorking would be my preferred routes.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Just wondered if anyone had any knowledge on the likely timetable arrangements in the Gatwick Airport area over Easter this year? I would need to arrive by 08.00am on Easter Sunday morning (24th April) for a 10.00am flight but not sure if any services will be running that early. (I’m assuming this is a complete non-starter due to the triple whammy of covid, Easter Sunday and the traditional Easter engineering blockades)

Travelling down from Bedford/Milton Keynes area, and trying to avoid parking at the airport.

Thameslink from Harlington or GWR from Dorking would be my preferred routes.

The Fast line side of the station is shown closed on NR's 2022 Engineering Access Statement so based on previous weekends when they've been doing works on the new station a Bedford service has run. Engineering train service plans are behind since the poor old planners have had to deal with several "unplanned" replans of the service due to Omicron wave so give it a few weeks and they might be visible as Southern and Thameslink seem to have some alterations in for early April currently.

 

[SteveHFC]

Just wondered if anyone had any knowledge on the likely timetable arrangements in the Gatwick Airport area over Easter this year? I would need to arrive by 08.00am on Easter Sunday morning (24th April) for a 10.00am flight but not sure if any services will be running that early. (I’m assuming this is a complete non-starter due to the triple whammy of covid, Easter Sunday and the traditional Easter engineering blockades)

Travelling down from Bedford/Milton Keynes area, and trying to avoid parking at the airport.

Thameslink from Harlington or GWR from Dorking would be my preferred routes.

Easter Sunday is on 17th April.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

Easter weeks are being worked in right now. They won't be visible for another 3 weeks.

 

[30907]

There is normally no Thameslink service across central London that early on a Sunday anyway.
It would be very unusual for all London-Gatwick routes to be blocked at once (though it did happen a few years ago, diversions via Horsham). So, via the night tube and starting early enough, you should be able to make it!

The first train from Deepdene is 0659. I wouldn't bet on a replacement bus, should there be one, getting you there for 0800.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

The Fast line side of the station is shown closed on NR's 2022 Engineering Access Statement so based on previous weekends when they've been doing works on the new station a Bedford service has run. Engineering train service plans are behind since the poor old planners have had to deal with several "unplanned" replans of the service due to Omicron wave so give it a few weeks and they might be visible as Southern and Thameslink seem to have some alterations in for early April currently.

The informed traveller plans aren't behind though. No plans for Easter are supposed to have been published yet, they are still being validated.

 

[concerned1]

Easter Sunday is on 17th April.

Quite right, my mistake. I’m doing the reverse journey on evening of May 1st which I believe might a bank holdiay

 

[30907]

Quite right, my mistake. I’m doing the reverse journey on evening of May 1st which I believe might a bank holdiay

Monday 2 May is a BH. Less likely to have major jobs that weekend, but from memory more likely to have routine stuff, and my comments earlier still apply. Still, getting home is presumably less time-critical.