The first new Thameslink trains serving Gatwick Airport are scheduled to begin passenger service next spring on the Brighton–Bedford route.
Starting in 2018, these trains will operate two new direct services linking Gatwick with Peterborough and Cambridge, once the Thameslink infrastructure upgrade — a project valued at $9.8 billion — is complete.
Separately, a new fleet of Gatwick Express trains will enter service between the airport and London Victoria in early 2016. That fleet comprises 108 new cars specifically designed for airport passengers and will significantly increase capacity: trains will depart for London roughly every three minutes.
At the same time, Gatwick Airport is investing $183 million to redesign the airport railway station. The station improvements, due by 2020, will more than double the size of the concourse to better handle growing passenger numbers and improve connections to the rail network.
The combined investment in upgraded train services and station facilities aims to provide faster, more frequent and more comfortable rail links for travelers using Gatwick Airport, while strengthening regional connections across the Brighton–Bedford corridor and beyond.