Gatwick Express should stop at Clapham Junction

Howard Johnston is right to highlight the current failing of Gatwick Express ( RAIL 870).

What continues to amaze me is that this service is allowed to take up at least two train paths on the busy Brighton Line, while carrying very few passengers (except during the peaks, when the service runs to/from Brighton).

I often travel to Gatwick Airport via Clapham Junction, and always seem to see very empty Gatwick Express trains passing through Clapham. Meanwhile, hordes of airline passengers are crowding onto already busy South Coast trains, making conditions on these trains really unpleasant for all.

Surely the Gatwick Express should stop at Clapham Junction (pick-up only southbound, set-down only northbound)? This would greatly relieve the Southern services and would not cost anything in line capacity.

I realise the premium fare would have to go, but the current service is hardly a premium product anyway, offering standard quality accommodation (with hard seats) and a running time to/from Victoria which is at best only five minutes quicker than most Southern trains. Clearly most passengers have already worked this out and choose the Southern services instead.

There is no need for more Gatwick trains to serve East Croydon, with all the Thameslink trains and Southern trains already doing so, but Clapham Junction is