ABTN is not in the habit of repeating the ”Comment” column, and in fact has never done so before. However the publication of a useful leaflet by BAA plc last week ”Help Stop the Murder of the Gatwick Express” to our mind justifies returning to this important subject.
On 13 September 2004 we wrote;
”On the back of the September issue of Business Traveller magazine is an advertisement ”Timing is Everything”. (see http://www.abtn.co.uk) Have a guess who placed it. Gatwick Express. It goes on to say that the fastest way between central London and Gatwick Airport is by its recently upgraded train service. Sadly the Gatwick Express had not been told that the people who provide the rails, the badly named Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), want to bar the service. This latest quango plans to literally dig up the rails. Its latest strategy, published for consultation last week, calls for the Gatwick Express to make a stop at East Croydon and continue after the airport to the coast. The claim is that the four trains per hour are not being used sufficiently whilst for the commuter trains it is standing room only. It is a classic example of twisting the facts to suit the story. The slow commuter trains to Gatwick cost ”8 whilst the splendid, brand new non-stop operation charges 50% more.
Under this proposed ”improvement” services will no longer start at Gatwick, meaning that passengers will have to board a through train which will stop at the airport”s station for only 90 seconds. Health and Safety will then become involved due to platform congestion causing more delays and confusion with passengers for whom English is not the first language. Has this move been really thought out? What about luggage? As things stand these can be easily loaded or unloaded. There is plenty of time. Luggage takes up space on the trains and just gets in the way of commuters. Do any members of the Strategic Rail Authority travel standard class on these services? Will more people just transfer to the overloaded road system?”
ABTN also learns that there will no longer be designated platforms at Victoria for Gatwick, another problem for travellers to sort out. For this reduced service will train operators charge the same price as for the current stopping commuter trains or will they find some justification for keeping the present price regime, even increasing the fares. What is going to happen to the specially designed train used on the service? The questions go on.
The Gatwick debate is now out in the open. Well done to BAA for bringing it to the public”s attention. The airport owner should now go one more step and demand action on Gatwick Airport station itself. If we are to get the 2012 Olympics we need all the gateways to London to be top class and not just T5 and St Pancras. What if the Olympic Committee were to fly from Paris to Gatwick to inspect the facilities at this end and have to go through the station?
(The good news is you can”t fly from Paris to Gatwick today ” but you probably will in the future).
BAA, the airlines and the Strategic Rail Authority need to get together at an early date to draw out up plans to sort out the Gatwick railway mess. Perhaps Lord Marshall (who incidentally was in fine form at the Aviation Club last week), can bring the parties together in his new position as chairman of Visit Britain.
The BAA leaflet is available at Gatwick and on the trains and a full copy of the BAA response to the SRA plans can be found at
http://www.baa.com/newsdesk