This old chestnut keeps coming round and the London Assembly has produced a report, as is discussed in the Standard. Here’s the first few paragraphs.
The Government’s claim that the South-East faces an aviation capacity crisis was thrown into doubt today after an influential report suggested London has enough runways already.
The London Assembly study found the capital’s airports are currently underused with two — Luton and Stansted — having around half of their runway slots free.
Even Heathrow, at 99 per cent runway capacity, could fly an additional 20 million passengers a year if larger aircraft were used, it claimed.
To test their premise, that London has enough space, let’s look at Gatwick. Two years ago, I flew out of Gatwick to Greece. Read what I wrote in this blog. The last statement was.
Let’s face it, if I fly again, I’m not going out of Gatwick.
But in spite of that, I did use the airport to go to Budapest, where I had an excellent meal at Jamie’s Italian.
Gatwick seems to have improved immensely in the last couple of years, since the change of ownership, and it’s all been done by lots of small steps. The other thing that helps me is the direct link from Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction.
I’m going out to Geneva on the 17th and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes. On every trip, Gatwick seems to get better.
May 1, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Food, Transport/Travel | Coeliac/Gluten-Free, Flying, Gatwick Airport, Trains |
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I was surprised to see a branch of Jamie’s Italian at Gatwick and that it had the full gluten-free menu as well.
Wild Rabbit Tagliolini
I had a wild rabbit tagliolini.
The only problem was the texture on the table, that made it difficult for me to write. But food, wine and especially the service were all very good.
It was also good to see a decent gluten free offering in an airport.
I do like to see rabbits working!
April 13, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Food, Transport/Travel | Coeliac/Gluten-Free, Gatwick Airport, Home Run From Budapest, Restaurant |
1 Comment
I t0ok this picture on the top of the North Terminal at Gatwick, as I walked into Departures.
How To Get Cancer And Pneumonia
Some people never learn. Or even want to!
On a serious note, I wonder how many have given up smoking this winter, as they don’t like being banished to the cold from their workplace or home.
April 13, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Health, Transport/Travel | Gatwick Airport, Smoking, Weather |
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I’ve just returned from Budapest by train, after flying out on Monday, the 8th. I outlined it here.
I took the Overground, as I indicated I would and it was easy. I also found out, that all trains for Gatwick Airport leave from platform 13 at Clapham Junction station.
All Trains To Gatwick Go From 13
This makes things easy to remember. Unfortunately, we were delayed due to someone falling on the line.
The flight out was uneventful and my only complaint, was the uncomfortable seat. but that’s really down to me, rather than the aircraft.
April 13, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Clapham Junction Station, Gatwick Airport, Home Run From Budapest, Trains |
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Since it opened, I’ve usually taken the Overground to Clapham Junction station and changed for Gatwick Airport there.
This morning, for my flight out on Monday to Budapest, I looked up to see what the standard train information site said. They recommended changing at Clapham Junction station.
I’ve just bought a ticket from Clapham Junction to Gatwick Airport on-line. No problem there, but why can’t I pick it up at Dalston Junction station?
April 5, 2013
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Dalston Junction, Gatwick Airport, London Overground, Ticketing |
1 Comment
In my trip to Majorca, I booked out via Stansted and back via Gatwick. So how did the routes to the two airports compare?
Stansted is easier at present, than it will be in a few months, as the 21 and141 buses actually stop at Liverpool Street station because of the diversions for Crossrail. So I just get the bus and walk the twenty metres or so to the station. In fact on Sunday, as the diversion wasn’t being announced or I missed it, I actually walked from Moorgate, which wasn’t too bad.
One at the station I just got a train direct to the airport at a cost f 14.85 with my Senior Railcard.
A Personal Train
As the picture shows, at seven on a Sunday morning, I got a personal train.
Coming back into Gatwick, I just walked to the station and one of the staff there, said that as I had a Freedom Pass, I just needed to buy a ticket to East Croydon. It was just £3.25.
I came back via Clapham Junction station, where I changed to the Overground to Dalston Junction station.
It was all very easy, but it is probably a bit slower than going to or coming from Stansted. But only by a few minutes.
I did waste some time at Gatwick trying to locate my train and an information board like London Bridge, where all stations are indicated with the next train, time and platform, wouldn’t be a bad idea. One guy told me that it is in hand.
I suppose too, that I could have gone to Victoria and then got a tube, which might have been quicker. But then the Overground is so much easier and if you have a heavy case, it’s all step-free transfers.
So hopefully it’ll all get better.
December 18, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Gatwick Airport, London Overground, Stansted Airport, Step-Free, Trains |
2 Comments
The one thing that worked well on my trip today, was changing at Clapham Junction station to go south.
If you use the bridge over the tracks, it is fully served with lifts, so if you are wheeling a heavy case to Gatwick Airport, it is probably easier than say getting it off the Underground at Victoria station. There’s also a couple of coffee shops on the bridge and even in the rush hour today, there was somewhere to sit.
I think we should congratulate Network Rail on doing a good design job in bringing an old bridge up to the standard that travellers expect these days.
I would also recommend you buy your tickets before travelling, unless you are prepared to go through the barriers and buy the tickets at the station.
One good thing about changing at Clapham Junction, is that if you use the bridge it is fairly eas to find your ongoing platform. Coming north, it is very easy as you always go to Platform 2.
Hopefully, this will improve as more and more people use Clapham Junction station to change to and from the south. Today, the trains to and from the station on the South London line weren’t very full. But then that was the case when the rest of the Overground opened.
I don’t think it will stay as quiet for long!
December 12, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Clapham Junction Station, Gatwick Airport, London Overground, South London Line, Step-Free, Trains |
5 Comments
You don’t have to wait long before a story about London’s airports comes about. Today, there’s story about a protest from the people of Kent about the Mayor of London’s support for an airport in the Thames Estuary.
They protestors actually recommend the following ideas.
- A high speed rail link between Gatwick and Heathrow.
- Improved rail connections to other regional airports.
- A second runway at Gatwick after 2019.
- Development of other regional airports, like Manston and Lydd.
This I suppose is something as usually protestors are very negative.
I should say that although, I don’t do it now, I’ve flown many times over Kent in a light aircraft and it is actually surprising how much green space there is. Now, I’m not saying we concrete it all over, but how many of those who fought the Channel Tunnel Rail Link or the M2 and M20, ten or so years ago, are still fighting them. I think this shows, that if you build rail and road links sympathetically, you actually get people on your side, as they are the ones that often benefit most from the new links.
So let’s look at their proposals in turn.
1. The Gatwick to Heathrow Rail Link
Heathrow is supposed to be on a spur to the new HS2 line from London to Birmingham. But why can’t the spur go right under Heathrow and on to Gatwick? Thoughts on the subject by civil servants are here in the Telegraph.
Thinking even more radically, you might even start HS2 at some point on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and then it could encircle London to the South West with stations at Gatwick, Woking and Heathrow.
One of the great advantages of a Gatwick to Heathrow link is that you separate London bound passengers from those, who are not going to the capital or even taking a connecting flight.
2. Improved Connections to Other Regional Airports
Once we have completed Thameslink and Crossrail, a lot of this will have been established. Journeys between airports like Gatwick and Luton, Heathrow and Southend will be no changes or just one. Even Gatwick to Heathrow will only be one change at Farringdon station.
In fact, will these two modern railways, with big trains revolutionise the way people travel through London.
Imagine, you are a businessman travelling from say San Francisco to Qatar. American Airlines seems to book you via London, where you change planes. You might find after an eleven hour or more flight, that staying in a good hotel in the centre of the best city in the world is a good alternative to carrying on. After all even now Gatwick to Farringdon is just 40 mins and Heathrow to Farringdon is quoted as 30 mins on the Crossrail site, when that line opens.
So could this simple route via Farringdon, demolish the case for a high-speed rail link between Gatwick and Heathrow? It certainly will for those, who can afford to spend a night in a good London hotel or want to stay over. Farringdon is of course a short taxi ride or a one-stop train journey from most main line terminal stations.
One of the things that would make Farringdon a better interchange is some more hotels in the area. But even so, it’s not a bad location for a transport interchange. It’s also next to the wife market in Smithfield and on a more legal level from the best of London’s lawyers.
So perhaps we’ve got the CrossRail/Thameslink railways right
3. A second runway at Gatwick after 2019
I used to fly a lot and was an avid reader of Flight International. Years ago, an airline pilot proposed building a second runway at Gatwick, by building over the M23 and putting that in a tunnel underneath. The runway would have been North-South, which is an unusual direction for the UK, but would only have been used for take-off in a southerly direction.
He had a point and it shows how if you think radically, you may come up with better solutions.
But in my mind Gatwick is the place to put extra runway capacity in the South-East of England. Flights tend to avoid flying over the capital and the rail links, when they are finished will be good.
4. Development of other regional airports, like Manston and Lydd
It’s interesting to see the people of Kent wanting to take their share of the development. I suppose they understand the benefits a large airport will bring.
Manston airport could be easily connected to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and as it has a long runway. But that’s about it. Financially, it has always been a failure, but it is there for things like maintenance and freight.
Lydd airport is one of those places that grew up after the Second World War to serve a short-hop-to-France market. It does a bit more now, but would not be an airport of my choice.
However saying that about Lydd, over the previous few months, Southend airport has been developed from a small field to a proper airport, with easyJet as an operator. It has a rail link to Liverpool Street station in London, which takes about 50 minutes. But Southend has quite a large catchment area including East London, Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich, with good rail and road links. To a certain extent, it will take business from Stansted.
In fact you can now see a pattern developing of London’s airports. The two big ones; Heathrow and Gatwick are badly placed and you wouldn’t put them there now, but remember, the capacity will rise as more and more airlines use larger and larger aircraft at these airports. I can see a time, when these airports completely ban 737’s and the like. I’ve just found, that you can fly Heathrow to Paris in a small Airbus 319. Surely, we need to improve the rail links, so more passengers take the train.
Around these two large airports, a ring of smaller ones is developing.
- Stansted, which is big enough to take long-haul, is still considered a low-cost airline airport
- Luton, which is very much a low-cost airline and charter airport
- City, which is an ideally placed short-haul business airport
- Southend, which is developing into another low-cost airline airport
What is missing, is a low-cost airline airport, or even a business airport like City to the west, with good quick connections to Heathrow. A third shorter runway at Heathrow might have worked for the latter.
I think though on balance, that we shouldn’t take any serious decisions about expanding Heathrow or replacing it with an airport in the Thames Estuary, until CrossRail and Thameslink are fulkly operational and the plans for HS2 are finalised.
May 12, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
News, Transport/Travel | Airports, Crossrail, Flying, Gatwick Airport, Heathrow Airport, High Speed Two, King's Cross Station, St. Pancras Station, Trains |
3 Comments
This report makes me glad, that I probably won’t fly long-haul for some time.
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October 16, 2011
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Gatwick Airport, India |
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If I thought Gatwick was a disgrace going out, it was only because I hadn’t tried it going in.
It was like entering a building site and it was a long walk to passport control, which seemed to have been set up by vaguely clearing an area of the site. I’ve seen better facilities in countries that are very much less wealthy than the UK.
There was no signage to the trains and yet again trains south of the Thames were very badly organised. It appeared that I needed to go to Platform 1, but after getting to the platform and finding one of the invisible staff, he said I needed Platform 4 for London Bridge.
To be fair the train arrived on time and there was a 141 bus waiting to take me home.
If you compare Gatwick to St. Pancras, it’s like comparing a twenty-year-old Skoda with a modern Jaguar.
It’s the last time, I’ll use that dump.
52.245212
0.403362
March 31, 2011
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Gatwick Airport, London Bridge Station |
2 Comments
The Anonymous Widower 