Cheapest way to get from Gatwick to London or London to Gatwick on the train.

[busestrains]

Can anyone tell me please what is the current cheapest possible way to travel from Gatwick to London or London to Gatwick on the train?

Looking at direct fares the Contactless/Oyster fare appears to be £9.00 for the direct journey which you would think is the cheapest.

But i have done some research on BR Fares and looked at all the different fares and splits and tickets and so far this is the cheapest i can come up with:

NORTHBOUND:
Use a Contactless/Oyster card and touch in at Gatwick Airport and take a train from Gatwick Airport to Horley and alight and touch out at Horley which costs you £1.80 and then you can immediately touch back in at Horley and board another train from Horley to London Victoria or London Bridge and alight and touch out at London Victoria or London Bridge which costs £6.90 bringing the total cost to £8.70 total.

SOUTHBOUND:
Use a Contactless/Oyster card and touch in at London Victoria or London Bridge and take a train from London Victoria or London Bridge to Horley and alight and touch out at Horley which costs you £6.90 and then you can immediately touch back in at Horley and board another train from Horley to Gatwick Airport and alight and touch out at Gatwick Airport which costs £1.80 bringing the total cost to £8.70 total.

So my question is if this is the cheapest method at £8.70 total? Or are there any cheaper ways or better places to split to get it cheaper? If so what are the cheaper ways?

 

[johncrossley]

Can anyone tell me please what is the current cheapest possible way to travel from Gatwick to London or London to Gatwick on the train?

Looking at direct fares the Contactless/Oyster fare appears to be £9.00 for the direct journey which you would think is the cheapest.

But i have done some research on BR Fares and looked at all the different fares and splits and tickets and so far this is the cheapest i can come up with:

NORTHBOUND:
Use a Contactless/Oyster card and touch in at Gatwick Airport and take a train from Gatwick Airport to Horley and alight and touch out at Horley which costs you £1.80 and then you can immediately touch back in at Horley and board another train from Horley to London Victoria or London Bridge and alight and touch out at London Victoria or London Bridge which costs £6.90 bringing the total cost to £8.70 total.

SOUTHBOUND:
Use a Contactless/Oyster card and touch in at London Victoria or London Bridge and take a train from London Victoria or London Bridge to Horley and alight and touch out at Horley which costs you £6.90 and then you can immediately touch back in at Horley and board another train from Horley to Gatwick Airport and alight and touch out at Gatwick Airport which costs £1.80 bringing the total cost to £8.70 total.

So my question is if this is the cheapest method at £8.70 total? Or are there any cheaper ways or better places to split to get it cheaper? If so what are the cheaper ways?

Splitting at East Croydon using contactless costs £7.30, off-peak. It also means you can take advantage of more and faster trains. Horley only has four trains per hour and none of them fast.

 

[berneyarms]

Assuming it’s off-peak, and that it’s a single trip in one day, then it’s cheaper to get off at East Croydon, tag-off and tag back on after a minute or two.

GBP 3.50 Gatwick/East Croydon
GBP 3.80 East Croydon/London

Total GBP 7.30

If it’s a day return trip then paper tickets on Thameslink are generally the best option with super off-peak day return valid at weekends being GBP 10.80 and an off-peak day return valid the rest of the week being GBP 13.80.

 

[zero]

I don't think Horley has ticket barriers, so even if it was cheaper than splitting at East Croydon, you either need to use a different card for the second trip, or wait more than 2 minutes meaning that even if you position yourself exactly where the readers are, you are unlikely to be able to get back on the same train.

Pretty sure East Croydon is the best split point between Gatwick and most if not all destinations that involve a train further north from East Croydon.

 

[JonathanH]

You can try walking to Battersea Park (or another Zone 2 station) instead of Victoria as well.

I don't think Horley has ticket barriers

Horley very much does have ticket barriers.

 

[Qas13]

Would anyone happen to know if TfL staff Oyster cards work on thamslink to Gatwick and back

 

[infobleep]

Would anyone happen to know if TfL Oyster cards work on thamslink to Gatwick and back

Yes they do.

 

[Qas13]

Yes they do.

Forgot to put staff oyster. I’m guessing it does for staff too

 

[Dstock7080]

Would anyone happen to know if TfL staff Oyster cards work on thamslink to Gatwick and back

Staff Oyster cards are not valid on Thameslink beyond Elephant & Caste/London Bridge.
They are valid on London Overground to West Croydon

 

[miklcct]

You can try walking to Battersea Park (or another Zone 2 station) instead of Victoria as well.

This doesn't answer OP's question as Battersea Park is not London.

However, Vauxhall (changing at Clapham Junction) will satisfy the criteria, being a London station in zone 2.

 

[JonathanH]

This doesn't answer OP's question as Battersea Park is not London.

No, but it saves money. Not London has different meanings in different contexts.

However, Vauxhall (changing at Clapham Junction) will satisfy the criteria, being a London station in zone 2.

It is effectively only in Zone 2 for journeys wholly within London, as far as off-peak Oyster / Contactless towards Gatwick Airport is concerned.

 

[miklcct]

No, but it saves money. Not London has different meanings in different contexts.


It is effectively only in Zone 2 for journeys wholly within London, as far as off-peak Oyster / Contactless towards Gatwick Airport is concerned.

The fare finder says Gatwick - Vauxhall is zone 2-14, as the journey never enters zone 1. As a result during the evening peak you are better off going all the way into Waterloo instead.

Also, the same East Croydon split can be used as well.

 

[busestrains]

Thank you for all the replies. I was not aware of the East Croydon split for £7.30 total. That is very useful to know that.

I have just done some more searching on BR Fares with different splits and i have found these one by splitting at Selhurst or Thornton Heath you can get it for £6.90 total:

SELHURST SPLIT:
• Gatwick to Selhurst - £3.50
• Selhurst to London - £3.40
• Total Cost - £6.90

THORNTON HEATH SPLIT:
• Gatwick to Thornton Heath - £3.50
• Thornton Heath to London - £3.40
• Total Cost - £6.90

Can i check are these fares correct? I ask because on the TFL website the fares finder is showing the fares between Gatwick Airport and Selhurst or Thornton Heath to be £6.90 but on the BR Fares website it says £3.50 instead? So which one is correct? One of them must be wrong?

 

[Watershed]

Thank you for all the replies. I was not aware of the East Croydon split for £7.30 total. That is very useful to know that.

I have just done some more searching on BR Fares with different splits and i have found these one by splitting at Selhurst or Thornton Heath you can get it for £6.90 total:

SELHURST SPLIT:
• Gatwick to Selhurst - £3.50
• Selhurst to London - £3.40
• Total Cost - £6.90

THORNTON HEATH SPLIT:
• Gatwick to Thornton Heath - £3.50
• Thornton Heath to London - £3.40
• Total Cost - £6.90

Can i check are these fares correct? I ask because on the TFL website the fares finder is showing the fares between Gatwick Airport and Selhurst or Thornton Heath to be £6.90 but on the BR Fares website it says £3.50 instead? So which one is correct? One of them must be wrong?

BR Fares is incorrect but this is a classic case of "garbage in, garbage out". It's simply reflecting the POP/PAP fares which are in the fares database, but these are not tickets that can actually be sold - they are just placeholders so that ticket office staff can tell passengers what the PAYG fare will be. These fares aren't always correct or kept up to date as they have to be extracted from the TfL data.

Always use the TfL single fares finder (or something that uses its data, e.g. ltfares.com) to check the exact fare.

In this particular case it is indeed possible to make the journey for £6.90, but you would need to walk between East and West Croydon (as the fare from West Croydon into London is cheaper than that from East Croydon).

 

[busestrains]

BR Fares is incorrect but this is a classic case of "garbage in, garbage out". It's simply reflecting the POP/PAP fares which are in the fares database, but these are not tickets that can actually be sold - they are just placeholders so that ticket office staff can tell passengers what the PAYG fare will be. These fares aren't always correct or kept up to date as they have to be extracted from the TfL data.

Always use the TfL single fares finder (or something that uses its data, e.g. ltfares.com) to check the exact fare.

In this particular case it is indeed possible to make the journey for £6.90, but you would need to walk between East and West Croydon (as the fare from West Croydon into London is cheaper than that from East Croydon).

Many thanks for the information. I thought that was probably a mistake. That method of walking from East Croydon to West Croydon for £6.90 total sounds very good. It is a very short walk so i may well use this method next time to save money.

 

[MikeWh]

One thing to bear in mind is that when touching in at Gatwick Airport your balance will need to cover the fare to Victoria. Annoyingly this also means you need the peak fare between 1600-1900 even though you wouldn't be charged peak by ending in zone 1. Also, West Croydon is only cheaper if you use the Overground to Canada Water or Whitechapel and then Underground into zone 1. If you travel to London Bridge NR or Victoria NR then it is the same price as East Croydon.

 

[miklcct]

One thing to bear in mind is that when touching in at Gatwick Airport your balance will need to cover the fare to Victoria.

Isn't the minimum entry fee the same as the fare to the next station, i.e. Horley? What will happen if I present my Oyster card at the gateline with only £2.00 balance intending to travel to Horley off-peak?

 

[MikeWh]

Isn't the minimum entry fee the same as the fare to the next station, i.e. Horley? What will happen if I present my Oyster card at the gateline with only £2.00 balance intending to travel to Horley off-peak?

Normally yes. GTR under instruction from the DfT mandated TfL to set the threshold at the fare to London. If you don't meet the threshold the gate won't open.

 

[miklcct]

Normally yes. GTR under instruction from the DfT mandated TfL to set the threshold at the fare to London. If you don't meet the threshold the gate won't open.

So if I present my Oyster card with £2.00 in it the gate won't open? In such case how should I suppose to travel without paying extra?

 

[zwk500]

So if I present my Oyster card with £2.00 in it the gate won't open? In such case how should I suppose to travel without paying extra?

buy a ticket, or use a contactless card. And you just need the balance on the oyster, it won't charge you for the fare to Victoria (unless you touch out there).

 

[paul1609]

If you were a local which most travellers on a 1 mile journey will be it would make more sense to use Keygo.

 

[miklcct]

If you were a local which most travellers on a 1 mile journey will be it would make more sense to use Keygo.

Isn't it more expensive then using an Oyster card?

buy a ticket, or use a contactless card. And you just need the balance on the oyster, it won't charge you for the fare to Victoria (unless you touch out there).

Railcard discount can't be added into a contactless card, while ticket price is more expensive. This seems to be a poor man tax which penalises people with railcard discount who can't afford to put in a load of useless credits into an Oyster card.

For example, I seldom keep more than £10 in credit in my Oyster card unless I anticipate some heavy use ahead, as most of my journeys only cost £1.05.

 

[MikeWh]

Isn't it more expensive then using an Oyster card?

Not necessarily

Railcard discount can't be added into a contactless card, while ticket price is more expensive.

Prices for Gatwick to Horley:

Oyster peak single £2.20
Oyster off-peak single with railcard £1.20
Anytime Day single £2.20
Anytime Day return £3.80
Anytime Day single with railcard £1.45
Anytime Day return with railcard £2.50
Off-peak Day return with railcard £2.00

This seems to be a poor man tax which penalises people with railcard discount who can't afford to put in a load of useless credits into an Oyster card.

The Oyster card is primarily a London product. It's availability to Gatwick is provided as a convenient alternative. It is not advertised as being cheaper and they are open that sometimes it is more expensive in relation to fares beyond zone 6 to Gatwick.

For example, I seldom keep more than £10 in credit in my Oyster card unless I anticipate some heavy use ahead, as most of my journeys only cost £1.05.

You are typical of a lot of London users. But if you were travelling from Gatwick it's almost certain that you'd need the credit to get back to North London at some point, even if your initial journey was only to Horley.

 

[busestrains]

One thing to bear in mind is that when touching in at Gatwick Airport your balance will need to cover the fare to Victoria. Annoyingly this also means you need the peak fare between 1600-1900 even though you wouldn't be charged peak by ending in zone 1. Also, West Croydon is only cheaper if you use the Overground to Canada Water or Whitechapel and then Underground into zone 1. If you travel to London Bridge NR or Victoria NR then it is the same price as East Croydon.

So to get that cheaper fare would i have to touch on a pink reader during my journey? Or is just touching out on any LU Z1 ticket barriers enough to get that fare? If so could i go via West Brompton or Kensington Olympia or Shepherds Bush to any LU Z1 station? Or does it have to be the Canada Water or Whitechapel route?

 

[MikeWh]

So to get that cheaper fare would i have to touch on a pink reader during my journey? Or is just touching out on any LU Z1 ticket barriers enough to get that fare? If so could i go via West Brompton or Kensington Olympia or Shepherds Bush to any LU Z1 station? Or does it have to be the Canada Water or Whitechapel route?

According to the fare finder the default route from West Croydon to Oxford Circus is via the TfL only route. This means that you don't have to touch pink readers to indicate the route. This also means that as long as you don't have to change between stations you'll be charged that fare whichever way you go.

 

[busestrains]

According to the fare finder the default route from West Croydon to Oxford Circus is via the TfL only route. This means that you don't have to touch pink readers to indicate the route. This also means that as long as you don't have to change between stations you'll be charged that fare whichever way you go.

Many thanks for the further information. That is much appreciated. It looks like the West Brompton (nice and simple change) and Kensington Olympia (when the District Line runs from there) methods should work fine then. But as Shepherds Bush requires you to leave the gateline area and switch stations i presume this will not work. I shall use this method next time i travel to or from Gatwick Airport to save money. £6.90 is a very good fare for that journey from Gatwick Airport to Zone 1 LU stations.