John

The high speed Gatwick Express rail service from central London has won a reprieve.

The non-stop link from the capital to the airport every 15 minutes was threatened with closure as part of planned changes to the London-Brighton line.

But instead the franchise will change from National Express to Southern in May 2008, providing increased capacity. The new Gatwick Express will run from December next year including both the high speed connection and Southern services.

Airlines at Gatwick had lobbied for the Gatwick Express to be saved from closure.

The service will run beyond Gatwick to Brighton at peak times, according to the Department for Transport.

Service changes from December 2008 will see the number of express trains between London and Brighton double at the busiest times.

Six 10-carriage Gatwick Express trains in the 90-minute morning peak period will start at Brighton, calling at Haywards Heath, Gatwick and London Victoria, up from the current seven-carriage trains. The same number of services will run from London in the evening peak, with some stopping at intermediate stations in both directions.

Unused coaches will be taken out of mothballs and reconditioned to provide the extra trains. Two extra trains will also run from Redhill to London in the peak.

The changes will provide more than 3,700 seats to and from London at the busiest times, the DoT said.

(Travelmole)

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