Network Rail has started the construction works for Gatwick Airport new station concourse as the first train arrived at one of the platforms that has been rebuilt.
The £150 million (EUR 166.15 million) project has seen many changes at the station already this year, including the closure of platform 7 and now its return, while demolition work will soon begin on the footbridge and platforms 5 and 6, which are now out of service.
The works towards the creation of a much bigger, brighter and better station, with much improved accessibility for passengers, will be completed by 2023.
“I am pleased to see this project reach another important milestone, which will transform this vital transport hub as people return to our railways. Once completed, the expanded modern station will be an impressive gateway to Global Britain, improving accessibility and enhancing the passenger experience to and from Gatwick,” Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said.
Platforms 5 and 6 have now been taken out of use and will be demolished and rebuilt to give passengers more room. They will reopen in their newer, wider and more accessible state in May 2022. In the meantime, work has begun on building the new concourse, which will sit over platforms 5, 6 and 7 and act as a new link for passengers changing trains at the station. The existing concourse will remain but will be substantially remodelled over the next three years.
“By 2023 passengers arriving at Gatwick will see wider platforms, with more space for them, more lifts and escalators and the crowning achievement – a new concourse over some of our tracks,” Network Rail Southern region’s investment director Paul Harwood said.
The project has received a £110 million (EUR 121.85 million) investment from the Department for Transport. Gatwick Airport Ltd is providing £37 million (EUR 41 million) and the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, £10 million (EUR 11 million). Network Rail, the DfT and Govia Thameslink Railway have formed a collaborative partnership, with the project being delivered by Costain.
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