Gatwick Airport Revamp

[Evvy73]

Big 'revamp' of Gatwick Airport station due to start next Autumn according to BBC.

LINK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-11531118

It says this will include the building of a new Platform, although it is not clear if this is to replace an existing one, or in addition to the current six (3 'islands').

 

[shinkansen1966]

Plenty of stuff about here:
http://www.networkrailmediacentre.c...-STATION-UPGRADE-159b/SearchCategoryID-2.aspx

But not clear where those extra platforms will be.

 

[Invincibles]

The pictures seem to show a platform nearer to the terminals which only has one face. This has an outside set of steps / ramp and looks to me to be the new one.

However on the pictures there looks to be flat land with no rails (just grass) is this a potential for a short bay (up to the steps) possibly for the reading FGW train?

EDIT: I have the wrong side, I was confusing the terminal building and the car park. I have not been there since April if that is a defence

 

[bangor-toad]

Hi there,
The pictures on the Network Rail webpage show where the new platform will go.

It's to the East of the current platforms and it fits in the gap between the existing platforms and the cark parks. If you look at last picture you can see the existing curved Platform 6 and the far straighter proposed new Platform 7. All Platforms are through ones, no bays are provided.

It looks a sensible way to get the platform in without *too* much civil engineering work.
I wonder how the track layout will be adjusted to integrate it? There's nothing published yet about this...

Cheers,
Jason

 

[PhilipW]

One of the main restrictions at the moment seems to be that the Gatwick Express on the Quarry lines has to cross over the Redhill/Mersham lines to reach the platforms on the West side of the station. With 4 trains an hours, that is 8 movements blocking all lines.

Is this going to be fixed with the Gatwick Express now terminating on the new eastside platforms ?

If not, I'm not too sure what the benefits of the upgrades are.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The work is due to start after the Olympics in London, and be finished by Winter 2013 - I think the extra platform is to relieve the bottleneck it is on the BML (with the GX terminators etc)

 

[swt_passenger]

The new extra platform is to be on the east side, as others have mentioned, and will become the normal down fast. That will allow P5 and P6 to be used for terminating alternate Gatwick Express trains in the offpeak, in fact they'll possibly dedicate the 5/6 island to Gatwick Express normally.

Because they will then be sitting between the up and down fast lines, they won't have to do the current conflicting move across the up fast and down slow when they arrive at Gatwick.

My theory is based on the future track layout drawing in the Sussex RUS...

 

[thelem]

Looking at the view from the south west:
http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Resource-Library/Gatwick-Airport-3-f48.aspx