| New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by grahame at 15:40, 3rd April 2026 |     |
From The BBC
A new overnight train service to and from Gatwick Airport will begin operating for the summer.
Great Western Railway (GWR) 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.
Great Western Railway (GWR) 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.
| Re: New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by ChrisB at 15:52, 3rd April 2026 | |
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.
| Re: New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by stuving at 18:41, 3rd April 2026 | |
In GWR'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, 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!
| Re: New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by grahame at 06:07, 4th April 2026 | |
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 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?
| Re: New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by TaplowGreen at 09:27, 4th April 2026 | |
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.
| Re: New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by ChrisB at 10:32, 4th April 2026 | |
More likely to be carting arrivals back surely? And staff inwards possibly that currently drive all the way?
| Re: New overnight train service at Gatwick to launch Posted by IndustryInsider at 12:30, 4th April 2026 | |
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.
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?
