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Service levels and punctuality are slipping badly. This morning on the 0730 to LGW there were no newspapers, the point of sale machines were not working and the train was 6 minutes late. On Saturday there were no papers nor was there a catering trolley. There is always something not quite right about this service which is a shame as it used to be a flagship for quality. Control by Southern clearly means bringing service levels down rather than up.
The Gatwick Express was destined to be scrapped as a franchise on its own. Under the Network Rail Route Utilisation Strategy, a number of peak time journeys have been extended to or from Brighton. This is the reason you will note that the trains only have the words "Express" rather than Gatwick Express now.
Its future is okay at the moment but who knows.
Used it this morning and it was okay.
Every time I use it, it seems to be a different type of train.
The one today had loads of legroom in standard, in fact I didn't realise I was in standard until they charged me less than £20!
There are two types of stock currently in use on LGW Express, the newer units will be replaced by the refurbished 442's.
There has been a definite reduction in service quality - I had assumed this was all part of a deliberate process of cost cutting.
1. The purpose made Juniper units with 1/3 and 2/3 door entrances withdrawn in favour of class 442s which have exits at the end of each carriage (not ideal for baggage) and had a history of door problems when used at SWT.
2. Whilst this was allegedly done to increase capacity, the 10 car class 442 trains have been steadily reduced to 5 cars off peak.
3. In the peaks the trains run to and from Brighton. Whilst this may be for valid reasons it is to the detriment of passengers to the airport, also due to the longer journeys/more stops timekeeping has also become a problem.
4. This also creates a lot of confusion for visitors to the country - if travelling to the airport you can buy a ticket on the train, however if staying on exactly the same train to Brighton (another popular tourist trip) you can't buy a ticket on the train and become liable to a penalty fare.
5. The staff these days are not interested in providing any service, they are just money robots interested only in passing through the train extracting money (often the process begins before the doors are shut at Victoria).
Of course the end game is to undermine the service to such an extent that during the next franchise it can be removed completely and Gatwick will become just another stop on the Southern network.
I use this service regularly and the decline in standards is plain for all to see.
One thing to watch, a member of staff has told me that the ability to buy a ticket on the train will end in December, and automatic barriers will be installed at the airport train station. This is a real nuisance as I often buy on the train as I wait to see how busy the train is before deciding whether or not to pay for first class (such that is it although at least you can normally get a seat even on one of the peak services).
A real shame - with Gatwick's new owners investing in making the airport more tolerable it is unfortunate that the previously excellent train service is now becoming bad enough to be a deterrent to using the airport.
This is not a service I need to use, but a quick look at the timetable makes me wonder what the point is: -
14:46 LGW - London Bridge 29m £9.40
14:50 LGW - London Victoria 30m £17.90 "Express"
14:53 LGW - London Victoria 31m £12.50
14:56 LGW - London Victoria 32m £12.50
15:01 LGW - London Bridge 29m £9.40
15:05 LGW - London Victoria 30m £17.90 "Express"
Standards on the Gatwick Express were previously influenced by its sponsors Virgin and laterly Continental.
It is now operated by Go-Ahead who also owns Southern Railways the main operator between London and the Sussex Coast. As such there is no longer real competition so no need to maintain standards which is a great pity for Gatwick, already suffering from uncompetitive bus connections.
Gatwick Express should be a separate service, maybe run by the airport themselves, otherwise there is no competition.
The 'Express' service is only 1 or 2 minutes quicker and a lot more expensive. (43.2%)
I concur Bucksnet
Some good news for South Terminal - New security which should improve throughput with a 15 lane security and baggage barrier, opened by Sec for Transport Theresa Villiers today.
http://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/10/11/gatwick-opens-new-45m-security-lanes-at-south-terminal/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-england-sussex-15254102
The airline adverts have noting to do with sponsorship, the train operating companies are free to sell space inside or out as they feel fit. Many of the issues with this service is to do with route utilisation between London and Brighton which is why peak hour journeys are extended beyond LGW to/from Brighton.
There is competition between First Capital Connect and Southern, the London Bridge fares which Bucksnet has provided are FCC only.
The aim of Southern and FCC is to improve frequencies between London and Brighton, but paths are essentially blocked by Express. If you look at the number of people who are not prepared to pay a premium to travel to London for saving a minute, it makes you wonder if it is worth having the service anyway.
When Express was first launched it was different, slam door stock on what was then Connex service and not as frequent Thameslink service and more stops. Compared to today where FCC and Southern use Electrostars which are easy to board, although not that good for luggage, at least there are okay for standing with luggage.
LGW Express should have disappeared sometime ago as I have already stated, but was reprevied and placed in the Southern franchise. In comparison to LHR, the frequency of trains to London is far superior than LHR Express, albeit taking longer.
I should have been more specific - there is no real competition on the Gatwick Express Route - ie Gatwick to London Victoria. FCC does not go to London Victoria.
Tete whilst technically correct, there is competition between Southern, FCC and Express, the customer has the choice as to where they wish to go in London. Competition does not have to be plying the same roads (or rails), it is the product and accessability of the onward journey.
FCC wins if the punter is say taking a train from Kings Cross, where as Southern has the advantage of Clapham Junction as well as Victoria for West London destinations and other destinations. Express competes on non-stop verses stopping services
You would expect 'Express' to be a lot quicker than normal. 1 or 2 minutes faster just isn't good enough, especially for a 43.2% premium. Some of the 'express' trains are 32 minutes on the timetable, a few minutes away from a normal train taking 31 minutes!
FCC is the cheapest and fastest, if you want to go to that part of London of course.
I have to warn posters about FCC and their appraoch to customers. I gave up trying to get refunds for no first class coaches on trains from FCC when they would deny anything and everything and asked for legal proof (I should have photographed the stock codes apparently. So I have avoided all First Group services for a couple of years now as a result (you think Emirates customer service is bad...) Also FCC services are very very slow in the rush hour as they are routed on the slow line and make a lot of additional stops.
RichHI1 what journey were you taking? You should have taken your complaint to Passenger Focus. FCC are not routed by any slow lines, they may appear to make progress slowly due to the bottle neck which is London Bridge and beyond to Blackfriars.
Ntarrant LGW-Blackfriars. Went to Passenger Focus, they were unable to do anything as FCC just refused to accept the facts. I tried many avenues and it became very clear that in view of the ethics of FCC business practices I would be unlikely to recover from FCC. So given the choice of photographing every coach fo every train I travelled on or using other arrangements I chose the latter. I have avoided all First Group services for the last two years which is not hard for me as I can always drive where I knwo how long it will take and be sure I get a seat.
Before I stopped using their services I used the FCC Thameslink on LGW-BLackfriars many many times and on Rush hour services in the evening from Blackfriars the trains stopped additionally at Redhill and would be routinely overtaken by Southern services waiting on the slow line for other services ahead, notably in the last 10 minutes of the journey through Horley into Gatwick. I agree the slowness from Borough Market Junction to St Panacras is due to the nature of the track and not the result of train oiperating company secheules.
Doesn't take a genius to see that this is all part of a deliberate strategy to get out of the Gatwick Express operation.
As stated above there are capacity constraints on the Brighton line and government strategy is to avoid spending money at all costs, hence it's a question of getting more from the current rickety infrastructure. The easy model for this is:
1. You put Express and Southern as brands under the same operator.
2. Devalue the Express operation in terms of rolling stock, service and high fares to the point where people stop using it (unless it's tourists who get confused). New Electrostar stock on Southern becomes very attractive with its 1/3, 2/3 double doors instead of trying to struggle through a single door at each end of the Express coaches.
3. Then when the franchise comes up for renewal it's an easy debate to have about how Express trains run half empty, how this wastes valuable train paths to Brighton, Littlehampton etc.
4. Touche, Express gets abandoned.
FCC is regarded by everyone as a joke operator with low standards, I use them every day due to no other choice to City Thameslink, the only consolation is I routinely manage to reduce my ticket costs by 20-25% due to the number of compensation claims submitted to Delay Repay. It would appear that the strategy is to wait for the infrastructure work on the line around Blackfriars to be completed and then FCC can be ditched when their franchise expires. The government has just shortened their franchise to September 2013 so we are all counting the days.
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