Gatwick to Central London

RoisinDove

Does anyone know a cheap way of getting from Gatwick to central London on a weekday night? Preferably on a train and not a bus. The Gatwick Express is daylight robbery, and the Southern trains one is expensive as well. Is there an alternative other than the National Express coach?

Savman

IIRC the train to Kings Cross isn't that bad, much cheaper than the scandalous Gatwick Express.

www.thetrainline.com tbh

pauraic1990

Did you try with First Capital Connect train. it cost about £9.40 one way

nompere

Have you tried http://tickets.southernrailway.com ? I've just logged on there and set up a booking to travel Gatwick to Victoria on Wednesday 26 Jan at 18.57 and back on Sunday 30 Jan at 19.04. The total cost for the two tickets is £5.00.

Now you do have to pick your train carefully to do this as you are booked on a particular service, but I've done it in the past, and it works.

undo

I have a ticket lying around here that I bought in February 2010. Gatwick to London Bridge, First Capital Connect, £8.90 one-way. If you pick a specific train and pre-book, Southern can be much cheaper. If you just walk up and buy a single, FCC or Southern will each be around £9. Gatwick Express is obviously way too expensive - and only a couple of minutes faster anyway.

zagmund

RoisinDove wrote: »

Does anyone know a cheap way of getting from Gatwick to central London on a weekday night? Preferably on a train and not a bus. The Gatwick Express is daylight robbery, and the Southern trains one is expensive as well. Is there an alternative other than the National Express coach?

First off, central London is a big place so something more specific will help with the costings.

Second, while Gatwick Express is expensive alright and probably leaves you nowhere near your ultimate destination, as yourself & others pointed out there are other services (Southern & First Capital Connect) which stop at Gatwick airport. They are not particularly expensive, expecially compared to Gatwick Express, but unless you are lucky they are also not likely to drop you near your destination either. If you add on a £4 single tube fare it will add up, but you should be able to buy a ticket for either of the above with a destination of anywhere in zones 1 & 2 for only a tiny bit more than the train fare itself.

z

razorblunt

pauraic1990 wrote: »

Did you try with First Capital Connect train. it cost about £9.40 one way

This!

Had to do it myself on Monday, brings you right into London Bridge in about 35 mins. £8.40 for a single.

Tiesto

not sure how many of ye there are, but gatwick express has specials on at the minute..
3/4 can travel for the price of 2.
Good saving... Makes it much more affordable..

https://www.gatwickexpress.com/content.asp?SID={A14D7561-2028-43A9-B294-1E987484C943}&pageid=81

RoisinDove

How often are the First Capital Connect trains? Is it obvious where to buy them when inside the North Terminal? Is it the same place to buy tickets for other services?

I know you can book Southern trains in advance but I'm wary of doing it as if Im delayed, I think I will have to pay for a whole new ticket.

undo

RoisinDove wrote: »

How often are the First Capital Connect trains? Is it obvious where to buy them when inside the North Terminal? Is it the same place to buy tickets for other services?

Quite frequent, several trains an hour. You can look it up in the online journey planner. The FCC and Southern trains go at different times and cost about the same. So if you have no ticket yet, you can buy one for whichever train happens to come first. You get them at the regular ticket windows or the ticket machines in the train station - absolutely impossible to miss.

I know you can book Southern trains in advance but I'm wary of doing it as if Im delayed, I think I will have to pay for a whole new ticket.

Yes, that's the risk. I remember there used to be a 2 quid prepaid rate. At that price, I would risk it. Otherwise, it is just too much of a gamble.

A2LUE42

http://www.easybus.co.uk/london-gatwick/gatwick-bus-timetables

Great service.