New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

A new overnight train service to and from Gatwick Airport will begin operating for the summer.

Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) said services between the airport and Reading, via Redhill, Reigate, Dorking and Guildford, would begin operating from 6 June.

The service will operate for 12 weeks on a trial basis, with two services from Reading to Gatwick and three return services every Saturday morning, plus one service from Reading and two from Gatwick every Monday morning.

The trains will run down the North Downs line, which has been closed on multiple occasions over the last few years so maintenance can take place.

Currently, GWR services only run between 04:30 and 23:30, meaning passengers with early departures or late arrivals which make up over 20% of Gatwick's daily traffic are not able to reach the airport by rail from the west.

The operator said it would assess how popular the services were and would consider if overnight services on a longer term basis were possible.

[ChrisB]

Services will leave Reading at 0228 and 0330 on Saturdays and 0324 on Mondays.

From Gatwick, trains will depart at 0030, 0124 and 0400 on Saturdays and 0024 and 0400 on Mondays.

[stuving]

In GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s own information (in their airports page) it says about stops only "These services will also stop at key stations along the route including Wokingham, Blackwater, North Camp, Guildford, and Dorking.". It adds "For the full timetable, visit our train times page.", which is less than helpful since post-May timetables haven't appeared there yet.

Looking at RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), the schedules there do include all the usual "big" stops (those listed plus Reigate and Redhill), but they are all pick-up only to Gatwick and set down only on the way back; i.e. only available for travel to and from Gatwick. I guess part of the trial is to see how well that works in practice!

[grahame]

I confess to having misread that as "(overnight train) service" rather than "overnight (train service)" initially and wondered whether couchettes or sleepers would be offered.

A cautious welcome from me - as an advocate of 24/7 type services where appropriate.  I do wonder if a 12 week trial will show very much based on past DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) guidance that you can't really tell for the first three years, I wonder about onward connections to / from Reading, and I ask about the timings - are there blank "shoulders", for example, between the last service from Reading on a Sunday and the 03:24 on Monday morning?  Perhaps they are times for specific flights of flight groups rather than being a true mass transit provision?

[TaplowGreen]

I guess one issue is how you'd get to Reading station to catch a train at 0228 or 0330 on Saturdays or 0324 in the early hours of Monday morning?

I suppose a cab may be an option if you're already reasonably local but otherwise I suspect these trains will largely be carting fresh air around.

[ChrisB]

More likely to be carting arrivals back surely? And staff inwards possibly that currently drive all the way?

[IndustryInsider]

I guess one issue is how you'd get to Reading station to catch a train at 0228 or 0330 on Saturdays or 0324 in the early hours of Monday morning?

I suppose a cab may be an option if you're already reasonably local but otherwise I suspect these trains will largely be carting fresh air around.

Drive to Reading station and park there or in a nearby long stay car park/private reservable space?

[Hafren]

There are some quite late trains between PAD^▸ (Paddington (London) station) and RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) (albeit fewer on weekends)... I wonder if they connect!

Let's see...

Departure to Gatwick at 0228
Arrival from London 0234

Couldn't make it up!

[grahame]

There are some quite late trains between PAD^▸ (Paddington (London) station) and RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) (albeit fewer on weekends)... I wonder if they connect!

Let's see...

Departure to Gatwick at 0228
Arrival from London 0234

Couldn't make it up!

But would people want to make that change?   Bit of a double back?

[Hafren]

Twyford or Maidenhead pax^▸ (passengers) perhaps; small fry compared to possible connections from west during the day, but if every possible passenger counts to make this service viable...

[IndustryInsider]

Twyford or Maidenhead pax^▸ (passengers) perhaps; small fry compared to possible connections from west during the day, but if every possible passenger counts to make this service viable...

Yes, hopefully the aim will be to make it viable.

If I was to hazard an educated guess then they will do well to leave Reading with passengers in double figures, but will pick up en-route and perhaps have 30-40 on board at Gatwick.

It certainly won’t be a massive money spinner, after all none of the existing late night/overnight/early morning services are either, but it will be a socially useful service …and that’s what the railways should be for.

Hats off to them for trialling it.

[grahame]

It certainly won’t be a massive money spinner, after all none of the existing late night/overnight/early morning services are either, but it will be a socially useful service …and that’s what the railways should be for.

Hats off to them for trialling it.

Indeed.  As railway line remain open all night (don't they?), perhaps there is social use in restarting one of the services from [much] further west.  I have vague memories of a Maesteg (via Bristol?) to Waterloo train, and wonder about Cardiff to Gatwick, connecting at Reading into the Paddington train.

[IndustryInsider]

It certainly won’t be a massive money spinner, after all none of the existing late night/overnight/early morning services are either, but it will be a socially useful service …and that’s what the railways should be for.

Hats off to them for trialling it.

Indeed.  As railway line remain open all night (don't they?), perhaps there is social use in restarting one of the services from [much] further west.  I have vague memories of a Maesteg (via Bristol?) to Waterloo train, and wonder about Cardiff to Gatwick, connecting at Reading into the Paddington train.

Cardiff to London connecting with the Gatwick train at Reading perhaps, but I doubt you’ll see IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))/387s heading to Gatwick from Cardiff any time soon!

[grahame]

Cardiff to London connecting with the Gatwick train at Reading perhaps, but I doubt you’ll see IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))/387s heading to Gatwick from Cardiff any time soon!

I really wasn't thinking of an IET or 387 to Gatwick - though I recall a stylised advert showing an IET passing over a jammed motorway on its way to Gatwick, don't I?   Rather looking back and seeing if there were any learning lessons from the 158 that under Wales and West used to make its way from South Wales into London.   As purely a paper exercise ... what might be possible?    Lots of "yes, but" questions such as how to make optimal use of the stock for previous and subsequent journeys, and the Heathrow and Paddington connections are not great.  As a socially useful service it mops up all sorts of flows - though you might have the Welsh government preferring you to fly from Cardiff, or an express coach being an alternative.

23:45 at Swansea
01:30 - 01:45 at Bristol Temple Meads
03:15 arrival at Reading from the west
carries on at 03:24 / 03:30 to Gatwick
(03:40 bus leaves to Heathrow)
(04:13 train leaves towards Paddington)
04:55 arrival at Gatwick

01:24 from Gatwick - arrived Reading
(02:34 arrival of existing connection from Paddington)
(00:15 bus arrival from Heathrow)
02:44 arrival at Reading
02:50 departure towards the west
04:15 - 04:30 at Bristol Temple Meads
06:45 at Swansea

[TaplowGreen]

Cardiff to London connecting with the Gatwick train at Reading perhaps, but I doubt you’ll see IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))/387s heading to Gatwick from Cardiff any time soon!

I really wasn't thinking of an IET or 387 to Gatwick - though I recall a stylised advert showing an IET passing over a jammed motorway on its way to Gatwick, don't I?   Rather looking back and seeing if there were any learning lessons from the 158 that under Wales and West used to make its way from South Wales into London.   As purely a paper exercise ... what might be possible?    Lots of "yes, but" questions such as how to make optimal use of the stock for previous and subsequent journeys, and the Heathrow and Paddington connections are not great.  As a socially useful service it mops up all sorts of flows - though you might have the Welsh government preferring you to fly from Cardiff, or an express coach being an alternative.

23:45 at Swansea
01:30 - 01:45 at Bristol Temple Meads
03:15 arrival at Reading from the west
carries on at 03:24 / 03:30 to Gatwick
(03:40 bus leaves to Heathrow)
(04:13 train leaves towards Paddington)
04:55 arrival at Gatwick

01:24 from Gatwick - arrived Reading
(02:34 arrival of existing connection from Paddington)
(00:15 bus arrival from Heathrow)
02:44 arrival at Reading
02:50 departure towards the west
04:15 - 04:30 at Bristol Temple Meads
06:45 at Swansea

After an itinerary like that, I think most people would need another holiday.