Network Rail submits plan for Gatwick remodelling
GATWICK Airport station will be remodelled if Network Rail plans are approved, with work starting in 2019 and completed in 2022.
In partnership with Gatwick Airport Ltd, Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and the Department for Transport, NR has submitted a planning application to Crawley Borough Council.
The plans involve almost doubling the size of the rail station concourse, installing eight new escalators, five new lifts and four new stairways to improve accessibility and passenger flow.
Platforms 5 and 6 will be widened to reduce overcrowding, while there will be better connections to the south terminal with improved passenger information. A new roof structure will also be built.
NR said the plans will accommodate the passenger growth that is predicted up to 2036. The station is the South’s second busiest after Reading (outside London). It served 19 million passengers last year, up from 7.5 million 20 years ago.
NR’s South East Route Manager Director John Halsall said: “The proposals will transform passenger experience, support airport growth, and along with other upgrades of the Brighton Main Line - the £300 million reliability fund and our proposals for Croydon - improve journeys and provide a boost to the local, regional and national economy.” Halsall said the plans were still being developed in detail.
Gatwick Airport Chief Commercial Officer Guy Stephenson said: “The new Gatwick station is set to reduce congestion and give passengers a much-improved experience, including a more seamless transition between airport and station.”
Jonathan Sharrock, Chief Executive at Coast to Capital, said: “Gatwick Airport is the most important driver of our regional economy and the railway station is the sixth busiest in the whole of the UK outside London. Investing at Gatwick should be a top priority for the region and the UK economy as a whole.”
Stephen MacCallaugh, Govia Thameslink Railway’s Head of Gatwick Express, said: “The growing popularity of Gatwick and its increasing passenger numbers is a real positive for the airport and the station.”
It is expected that funding parties will make a final decision in the autumn.