Gatwick Express 'veers towards Third World conditions'

 
460002 at London Victoria gatwick express
Oxyman/wiki
20 May 2013

The Gatwick Express “at times veers towards Third World conditions” giving some business executives and tourists flying to London a poor first impression of Britain, an airport boss warned today.

Sir Roy McNulty, the new chairman of Gatwick Airport, stressed it was vital to improve the rail service to the Sussex airport.

Travellers, some of who have flown first class to Gatwick, were finding themselves “struggling” with their bags to find room on severely overcrowded trains.

“In the short to medium term, our main priority is improvement in the road and rail infrastructure that serves the airport - and above all improvement in the Gatwick Express,” he told The Standard.

“At its worst, at times it’s veering towards Third World conditions.

“It certainly does not present to the visitor the image that we would wish they see.”

Sir Roy, who was chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority from 2001 to 2009 and deputy chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, added that the quality of the Gatwick Express rail service had declined in recent years.

Improvements were needed in the rolling stock, much of which he stressed was 20 years old, and in punctuality and reliability.

Southern, which operates the Gatwick Express, said there were around 20,000 extra peak seats between Brighton and London every week to help meet the “capacity challenge” on the route.

A spokesman added: “Balancing the needs of the airport and the needs of Brighton line commuters is always going to be challenging particularly when operating over some of the most congested tracks in the country.”

The franchise is due up for renewal in 2015.

Gatwick is making a series of proposals in a paper to the Airports Commission on how the passenger experience could be enhanced over the short to medium term, including by keeping the current night flights quota so more planes can use the airport during these hours.

Heathrow’s submission outlines a range of possible changes including up to a dozen more flights between 5am and 6am but only using one runway between 5am and 7am which would be alternated to give local communities respite periods from aircraft noise.

Bosses at the west London airport, though, say that the only way to significantly boost capacity is another runway.

Even Sir Howard Davies, the head of the Airports Commission, has pointed to this, saying: “Bluntly, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to produce a set of short-term options which will massively increase the capacity at Heathrow.”

The Commission published a new consultation paper last week, on airport operational models, which raised the prospect of a hub airport at Manchester or Birmingham - as well as one at Heathrow.

The document also highlighted research by the Civil Aviation Authority which found that an airline alliance could move from Heathrow to Gatwick or another airport while keeping the vast majority of its passengers.

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