Group fears Gatwick will swalloow rail capacity
A pressure group campaigning against expansion at Gatwick Airport is urging passengers to lobby their support for Network Rail’s proposals to improve the Brighton Main Line.
Public consultation is under way for a scheme to unblock the notorious bottleneck at Croydon, with the aim of providing more reliable, more frequent and faster services.
Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) says it welcomes the railway’s plans, but is concerned that expansion announced in the airport’s Master Plan this autumn would absorb the extra rail capacity, instead of making room for more commuters on the congested lines into London Victoria. The airport proposes to bring its emergency runway into regular use, having announced record passenger numbers every month this year.
CAGNE Chairman Sally Pavey said: “It would be fundamentally wrong to allow Gatwick Airport to swallow up benefits by adding 70 million passengers, and their luggage, to this line that can’t be physically expanded.
“These upgrades are for South East commuter growth, not for Gatwick Airport’s desire for growth. All the time Gatwick is allowed to congest our railway, we will not see people getting out of their cars to reduce the decline in air quality for communities.”
CAGNE says Network Rail has explicitly stated that new capacity is not for expansion at Gatwick, but rather to deal with existing overcrowding and accommodate future population growth in the region.
All passenger services on the route are currently provided by Govia Thameslink Railway. Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express brands all serve the airport.
East Croydon station handles 22 million passengers a year, and Gatwick has 19 million passenger movements, placing both among the top 25 busiest stations in the UK. Gatwick was also labelled as the second most unpopular major station in a 2018 Transport Focus survey.
Network Rail’s project is known
as the East Croydon to Selhurst Junction Capacity Enhancement Scheme.
East Croydon station would be rebuilt, with two additional platforms and a larger concourse. New offices and homes could be built directly above the station at a later date.
The track layout north of the station would be remodelled, with new flyovers and diveunders to replace the existing “Selhurst triangle” junctions.
This would require expanding the railway from five to seven tracks north of East Croydon, including rebuilding the current road bridge over the railway. There would be additional work at Norwood Junction.
In its consultation documents, NR states that the scheme will “provide a significant boost to the regional and national economy”.
Where the work extends beyond the railway boundary, a Transport and Works Act Order will be required. The intention is to apply next year.
Network Rail’s consultation runs until December 17.