Gatwick Express suspends services for weekend - what you need to know

Gatwick Express has announced all services between Brighton and London Victoria will be suspended for the whole weekend after a points failure this morning

Gatwick Airport travellers are set for a weekend of travel chaos as Gatwick Express has halted its services for the entire weekend.

Early today, the rapid train link connecting the leading airport to London and the South East indicated all operations between Brighton and London Victoria would come to a standstill due to a points failure. Gatwick Express advised on X that journey times could be extended by around 15 minutes and encouraged customers to factor this in before setting out.

As a result of the disruption, the firm confirmed that Gatwick Express tickets would be valid on other routes without additional charges, including Southern services running between Brighton, Hove, Haywards Heath, Gatwick Airport, and London Victoria; Thameslink routes connecting Brighton with London Bridge/Blackfriars/Farringdon/St Pancras; as well as the London Underground services between London terminals. Nevertheless, Gatwick Express cautioned: "If you are planning on using Southern services as an alternative, please note they will also be subject to disruption."

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"Southern services that run to and from London Victoria may be subject to amendments, meaning they may terminate and restart at a different station to normal, or will be diverted to and from London Bridge instead. Please ensure to check your service for any delays or alterations before arriving at the station."

Gatwick Express has announced that their services will be suspended on Saturday, October 12 and Sunday, October 13 due to planned engineering works. Travellers intending to use Gatwick Express over the weekend are advised to seek alternative routes via Southern and Thameslink services operating to and from London Bridge station, reports the Mirror.

Social media has been abuzz with disgruntled travellers voicing their frustrations over the rail disruptions. One vexed passenger posted: "Our train network is shocking. How many times do passengers have to go through this b***dy 'signalling' issue. We can fly man to the moon but we can't a car on wheels along a track! " Another expressed their annoyance in a tweet: "Southern Rail, TLRail, Gatwick Express are trains from Brighton to London always so awful? Two trains sat at Preston Park. One for 40 minutes now. Little communication from drivers/staff. No one knows which is going first. Bit of a mess."

As London's second-largest airport, Gatwick is a mere 30-minute train ride from Central London. Last year alone, Gatwick saw 41 million passengers travel to approximately 225 destinations worldwide.