Gatwick Express operated by Southern

[yorkie]

About 3 years ago the Gatwick Express franchise was abolished. The trains are now operated by the new franchise holder, Southern Railway. The brand remains intact but it's not a train operating company (TOC) any more.

What happens if you take a Southern train branded as the Gatwick Express route on a Southern Only ticket?

The answer is, they initially ask you to pay an excess. You then say "but Gatwick Express is operated by Southern, it says so on your website!" they then admit that they are operated by Southern, and try to justify their position. You then say "Well, this ticket is valid on any train operated by Southern, and you admit that you are Southern, so the ticket is clearly valid" (or words to that effect) and they then do not charge you (some may need to be shown the map to be convinced).

If you don't put up much of an argument, they will charge you but writing to Southern gets you rail travel vouchers off a future ticket purchase.

Basically, tourists just pay whatever they ask for as they don't know their rights, but if you know your rights, then they are stumped!

Although the conductors on the Express route trains have route-branded uniforms, the catering staff and ticket office staff are in Southern uniform (I think the drivers are in Southern uniform too), and when asked they do admit that they are part of Southern.

Has anyone else had problems using Southern Only tickets on Express services operated by Southern?

A useful map to print out:

http://www.southernrailway.com/images/n ... 110225.pdf

The Gatwick Express route is shown in red as a Southern service (this is correct)

Other operators are shown as a thin black line.

[Nawdic]

I haven't had any problems, you can use them fron London-Brighton expresses..

I've never heard of a "southern only" ticket... is this true?

[teccuk]

Uhm. Sounds like business as usual for UK trains. Complicated to the point no-one is really sure of the rules...

I'm a fan of southern, nice long comfortable trains, and a great website i use for all tickets. Wish we had southern here!

[Chris]

Uhm. Sounds like business as usual for UK trains. Complicated to the point no-one is really sure of the rules...

Reminds me of getting to Reading station, and then realizing that I've forgot my railcard. So I go to the customer services desk, who tell me that I just need to go to the ticket office, and 'upgrade' my ticket (it was an advance ticket, so you needed to pay the extra 1/3, so that the ticket costs you what it would have done had you not had a railcard). So I do this, and its all fine, get on the train, and of course nobody checks the tickets . So on the return journey, I turn up at Bath station, queue up at the ticket office, explain what I've done again, and I expect the same thing to happen. But no. According to this person, doing that is against the rules, and he could lose his job for doing it. So I ask him what I should do, the response: buy a new ticket, or talk to the station manager, so instead I got on the train and hoped for the best. Luckily, we got off the train before they checked the tickets.

[yorkie]

I haven't had any problems, you can use them fron London-Brighton expresses..

I've never heard of a "southern only" ticket... is this true?

London Terminals [1072] - Gatwick Airport [GTW]

Return fares:

First Anytime Return
Any Permitted £50-00
Southern Only £33-80

Anytime Return
Any Permitted £30-80
Southern Only £25-00

Anytime Day Return
Any Permitted £23-80
Southern Only £14-50

Off Peak Day Return
Any Permitted N/A
Southern Only £12-60

Or you can get a Downlander 'ALL NETWORK' ticket for £12-50 for unlimited travel after 10:00 (or any time at weekends) the T&Cs of the ticket state any train on the Southern map, the Southern map clearly includes the Gatwick Express route. Must be bought at least 2 days in advance, and must be printed at home or a Southern Daysave for £12 (or £24 for a group of up to 4 adults + £1 for each additional child) which must be bought at least 7 days in advance and collected from a Southern-branded ticket machine or posted to you.

[Jacko]

they have those everywhere on stations southern provide services for, but where i am at the Portsmouth/Southampton end theyre pretty useless as often i need to use SWT to get home because the Souhern train has been cancelled again.