How long will it take to get to the train station after landing at Gatwick?

[DarkPsy]

I know this is a bit 'how long is a piece of string' but roughly how long do you think? We land at 14:10, so what time could we expect to be on the platform at Gatwick assuming no delays or baggage issues?

The only time we've used the train at Gatwick, coming from USA, it took an hour from landing to us sitting on the train - our luggage appeared very quickly, we got through passport control with no problems and a train was just about to pull into the station when we got there.

1hr is the quickest I've done with no bags to collect

I was going to say minimum one hour, but which terminal are you landing in? You have to get a little shuttle thing from North Terminal which can add time.

Buy tickets in advance/use contactless if you need to save time.

An hour is about right if there aren’t any problems. Big if, though.

It’s definitely how long is a piece of string scenario! I’ve done it from plane to train in 15 minutes before when everything aligned but that was flying solo, hand luggage only, sat near the front of the plane, got lucky with the gate placement, no queue at the e-gates and some power walking. Then again add in tired kids, a gate miles away, toddler needs to loo, queue at the border, wait for baggage reclaim and I’ve been there in there for over 2 hours.

We're landing in North terminal. Dammit, I wanted to make the 3:15 train as its £60, the later one is £180 ☹️. Is there an option to buy a flexible ticket?

Where are you catching the train to?

We landed back approx same time recently and it took 2 very long hours from landing to leaving the airport. It’s normally much quicker but for some reason they don’t load the baggage quickly. Sometimes you’d be fine but sometimes not.

To Plymouth.

The things that hold you up are arrival time, disembarking, need to queue for the loo, waiting for baggage, moving through crowded spaces etc.

I find it quite stressful to be honest

Have you tried using Split My Fare to see if that reduces costs?

I forgot border control too, also when the machines dont scan properly and the queues are building up, then someone will start arguing at the manual gates and it all starts kicking off

We flew into Gatwick on Saturday and landed at 6.50pm. We were in the train ticket hall by 7.20pm. That was with hand luggage only but a longish loo stop.

Have you got a railcard? We have a friends and family one, I recently did Stansted to Plymouth with 2 children, it took the fare from £259 to £134.

It costs £30 for the year but worth it.

315 would be stressing me out. If you've bought non flexi / non refundable fare you will have to buy a whole new ticket.

You can buy an anytime advance, that would usually be the cheapest option rather than buying on the day.

I think you’re going to find it difficult to book a specific timed train unless you leave a lot of time. I’ve never taken less than 45 minutes to get out of Gatwick but it has been much longer.

You should be able to get a flexible ticket, though - it’s just how much it would cost.

Is there a National Express that goes direct? Might be worth looking at especially as for an extra fiver each you have a bit more flexibility

It will be me and 2 young dc so National Express not really an option. I haven't bought the train tickets yet as it's impossible to know if there will be delays or what time we'll reach the train station. I'll have a look at Split My Fare.

It can easily take you longer with 2 young DC. I recently queued at Gatwick for half an hour just for passport controls (without children you can use e-gates). Plus also depends on which terminal you arrive. Based on my recent experiences (always delayed post Covid) and with kids I don’t think you will make it.

If you book on the Trainline it automatically searches for split tickets

A word of warning for anyone using split my fare, it prints EVERY SINGLE TICKET! We missed our train because of how long it took to get the tickets from the machine!

😫sorry OP!

How long did it take you to get to the station though?

Fuck me that's a lot of tickets.

Hope you are on your way, despite the missed train. How frustrating.

Second the Trainline app- it splits all the tickets for you and gives you an e ticket. It sounds tight - bags can take ages to come out.

For North you may get bussed from the plane then a long walk through passport control and baggage halk, then shuttle to South , so at least 45 minutes from landing to train.