Gatwick airport - train station - time?

[3timeslucky]

Hi,

I'm looking for inside knowledge of Gatwick as haven't been there in years. Flying in from Dublin and want to get a train straight out to Portsmouth. How long should I leave to get to the station/platforms (I want to pre-book the train ticket but have enough time to get it).

Thanks.

Do you know which terminal you’re flying into? The station is in the South terminal so if you fly in there, it’ll take you a couple of minutes to walk to it. If North terminal, slightly longer as you’ll have to get on the little train, but still it won’t take long at all.

Good point. South (Ryanair). So a couple of minutes based on what you said. Perfect. Thanks.

I always leave an hour between landing and any onward travel booking.

Download the South Western train app and then you don’t have to collect any ticket, it is electronically on your phone. I wouldn’t book a specific train, though, surely better to pay a bit more and book a slightly more flexible ticket – off-peak or whatever, depending on the time of day you fly in? The issue is not how long it takes you to get from the terminal to the station though, it’s how long it takes you to get off the plane and through the corridors to the terminal. From my memory of Ryanair and Gatwick, their gates are furthest from the terminal.

Thanks.

I have the app downloaded and I'll take your advice on not booking. I've no idea how busy trains get and whether there'd be a chance of getting stuck in LGW for the night which is what led to me thinking of pre-booking.

Ryanair being the furthest would seem quite likely!

Theres tons of trains you won't get stuck. Don't prebook when could have flight or custom delays etc etc

There’s loads of trains and you won’t get stuck, never not got a seat. But I wouldn’t prebook a specific time as you can’t predict whether or not your flight will be on time, where in the terminal you’ll be and how far you have to walk, if they’ll be border queues… FWIW my record is plane to train in 15 minutes before (with Ryanair!) but that flight was over an hour late.

Thanks all!