Gatwick Airport railway station
| Gatwick Airport | |
|---|---|
Gatwick Express Class 387s at platforms 5 and 6 | |
| Location | Gatwick Airport |
| Local authority | Borough of Crawley |
| Grid reference | TQ287413 |
| Managed by | Gatwick Express |
| Station code(s) | GTW |
| DfT category | B |
| Number of platforms | 7 |
| Accessible | Yes |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2019–20 | 21.051 million |
| – interchange | 1.527 million |
| 2020–21 | 1.686 million |
| – interchange | 0.319 million |
| 2021–22 | 5.919 million |
| – interchange | 0.909 million |
| 2022–23 | 16.508 million |
| – interchange | 0.853 million |
| 2023–24 | 19.490 million |
| – interchange | 0.987 million |
| Railway companies | |
| Original company | London, Brighton & South Coast Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1891 | Opened as Gatwick |
| 1935 | original Gatwick Airport station opened as Tinsley Green |
| 1946 | Gatwick station renamed Gatwick Racecourse |
| 27 May 1958 | Original station closed and Gatwick Racecourse station rebuilt and renamed Gatwick Airport |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°09′23″N 0°09′39″W / 51.1565°N 0.1609°W |
| London transport portal | |
Gatwick Airport railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in West Sussex, England. It serves Gatwick Airport, 26 miles 47 chains (42.8 km) down the line from London Bridge via Redhill. The platforms are about 70 metres (230 ft) to the east of the airport's South Terminal, with the ticket office above the platforms and station entrances and exits directly connected to the terminal. The station is also connected to the airport's North Terminal by the Airport Shuttle people-mover. Gatwick Airport is the busiest station in South East England region (which excludes London) as of the 2023-24 usage statistics. There have been two stations at Gatwick, sited about 0.85 miles (1.37 km) from each other. It is the busiest station in both West Sussex and South East England, and the sixth busiest station in the UK outside of London.
The first railway station, Gatwick, opened in September 1891. In 1946, it was renamed Gatwick Racecourse, to reflect its association with the neighbouring Gatwick Racecourse, but fell out of use for a decade after the opening of Tinsley Green station, which was renamed Gatwick Airport in September 1935. The stations had a reversal of fortunes in the 1950s as a result of a government decision to expand and develop the Beehive airport terminal into London's second airport. Gatwick Racecourse station was rebuilt to serve Gatwick Airport, and is integrated into its terminal. On 27 May 1958, the rebuilt station, which took over the name Gatwick Airport, was opened in conjunction with a regular train service; and services to Tinsley Green were discontinued. This made Gatwick Airport railway station the first in the UK to directly serve an airport.
Train services are provided by Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink and Great Western Railway. When viewed from the air (or in satellite imagery), the station's British Rail logo etched on the roof is visible. Between late 2010 and early 2014, new facilities were built at the station, among them platform 7; infrastructure was renewed and the concourse was refurbished. The station was one of 18 managed by Network Rail, but, in 2012, management was transferred to Southern. In May 2018, the station was named as the second-least popular major station in the UK.