Planning a journey

There's never been more ways to plan your rail journey and keep informed while you're on the move.

You can download timetables, plan future journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk or get the latest live running updates straight from our control centre.

You can also register for automatic alerts to deliver updates on your journey straight to your mailbox - free of charge.

If you have an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, you can download our Gatwick Express app - the easiest, fastest and smartest train assistant available. 

If you need to travel earlier or later than planned there's no need to worry. Anytime Day Return tickets give you complete flexibility around when you travel from London Victoria and Gatwick Airport and back, provided it's on the same day.

If you’ve booked an off peak ticket your travel plans can still be flexible. Off-Peak tickets are valid for travel on trains that arrive into London Victoria after 09:50 on weekdays and there are no time restrictions if you’re travelling from Victoria towards the airport. There is no restriction anytime on weekends and bank holidays.

Yes.

You can also collect your tickets from any ticket vending machine.

Most buses aren't designed to carry bikes and it's not possible to predict how many passengers are likely to turn up for a particular replacement service. Passengers and their safety must come first, so the national guidelines state that bikes can't be carried on rail replacement bus services.

Folding bikes can be put in the luggage area if there's enough room.

We understand that being refused will be inconvenient and disappointing for cyclists, but we hope this helps explain why.

We want to make sure all our passengers enjoy a good journey with us, including those with special travel needs or who just need a helping hand. We run an assisted travel scheme for passengers who need help using our services.

More on arranging assisted travel

The morning peak is generally from the first train of the day to those arriving in London before 10:00. In the evening it is generally between 16:30 and 19:01 for services leaving London.

You can look up the standard opening times for a ticket office in our station information section.

London Victoria station information

Gatwick Airport station information

Occasionally an office won't be open due to staff shortages - but most stations have ticket vending machines available.

You can find more information about our trains and stations here:

Accessibility on the train

Accessibility at the station

You can check our station information section to see what access and facilities are available at each of our stations.

Network Rail has a programme of planned engineering work to improve the rail network. Most of the planned work is carried out overnight or at weekends, but it can mean that we have to make changes to some of our services.Sometimes unforeseen problems such as damage to tracks and signals also mean we have to make changes.

You can check if engineering work will affect your journey using our engineering calendar to check for future planned works.

We also put up posters in advance at stations showing the work that will be affecting our network.

Please bear in mind that work shown on a section of track can mean timetable revisions for the whole of the line.

National Rail Enquiries at www.nationalrail.co.uk or on 08457 48 49 50 can give travel advice for the whole of the UK rail network.

Unfortunately you can’t take non-folding bicycles on rail replacement bus services.