£150m redesign for Gatwick railway station gets green light from local council

West Sussex County Council has welcomed a £150m funding agreement to remodel Gatwick railway station.

The funding has been reached between central government, Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), as well as Gatwick Airport.

The scheme will look to improve passenger accessibility within the station, making the concourse bigger with the installation of additional lifts and escalators.

West Sussex County Council’s leader, Louise Goldsmith, said: “This investment is brilliant news for West Sussex. Gatwick Airport is a vital gateway to international markets and for visitors to access the UK.

“Providing additional passenger capacity and transforming the quality of the station environment will not only make it a better customer experience, but will help to increase rail usage to the airport and reduce the use of private cars.”

She added: “The scheme will inevitably cause disruption while works take place, so we strongly encourage train operators to publish details of planned service changes as soon as possible so that rail passengers can plan ahead.”

The number of rail passengers to Gatwick has grown by around 80 per cent since 2002. Around 39 per cent of passengers now access the airport by rail.

The funding cost is being met by Gatwick Airport - contributing £37m - alongside Coast to Capital investing £10m. The remainder is due to come from the Department for Transport.

Construction work is set to start in May 2020, with a completion date of November 2022.

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