The Gatwick Station Project is moving towards completion in summer 2023 and will hit a key milestone by fully reopening all platforms at the station in early 2023.
Work is continuing on the new lift shafts and esclators on Platforms 5 and 6 ready for when they reopen in the New Year. In the station entrance, WiFi is now available and the new wayfinding is taking shape.
Take a look at the latest timeplase video showing progress on the external works.
You can find out more about the project and how it is improving the passenger journey on the Network Rail website.
More improvements at the station entrance
The station entrance
The South Terminal link span has now been cladded to create a welcoming corridor between the station and the airport. Additional wayfinding has been fitted within the area to make it easier for passengers to see where they need to go.
New flooring has been laid in a phased approach in the entire area. Around 90% of all flooring is now complete in the existing station estate, a total of 200 m² which is around 5,500 tiles.
With a combined focus on the passenger experience and great collaboration between the Gatwick station project team, GTR and Gatwick Airport, Gatwick Airport's public WiFi has now been extended into the station entrance. This will provide passengers with seamless connectivity as they move between the airport and station concourse and will allow them to benefit from unlimited browsing when travelling.
In the image above, the new customer information screens can be seen on the left and to the right is the golden cladded wall where the ticket vending machines are now located.
On concourse to completion
The new lift shafts on the new airport entrance concourse deck
The most visible part of the redeveloped station will be the new station concourse, sitting boldly above platforms 4 -7 with its curved steel roof. Construction is progressing well, with the steelwork for the four lift shafts and the first pairs of truss-supporting columns now in place.
New station staff building opens soon
The new station staff building
As part of the planned works to create more space for passengers, the station staff building was demolished and a new building has been built. The new building will open later this month.
The new building has a number of design efficiencies that support sustainability and decarbonisation. These include using low carbon concrete, being well insulated, having a good amount of natural light, using LED bulbs which consume significantly less energy than alternatives and installing a hybrid heating and cooling system which will provide energy efficiencies and cost savings.
British companies have been used wherever possible to provide the materials for the building including partition walls from British Gypsum, steel gauze from Titan, ceilings from SAS International and raised access flooring from Kingspan.
The new station control room will be located in the building. There will be a period of dual running with the existing control room to ensure a seamless transition of all systems.
Reducing our carbon footprint
Plant machinery being used on site at Gatwick
One of the ways the carbon footprint of the project is being lowered is by using biofuel (which is nontoxic and biodegradable and is produced by combining alcohol with vegetable oil, animal fat or recycled cooking grease) to run the plant vehicles used on site.
Excavators and dumpers use approximately 1,000 litres of biofuel a month - reducing the CO2 emission by almost 80%.
Retired civil engineers visit
Retired ICE members having a site tour
On Friday 21 October, 11 retired ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers) members visited the Gatwick station project.
They saw the almost completed staff accommodation building, the improvements that have been made in the station entrance and the construction that's progressing on the new Airport Entrance concourse deck and much more! Their feedback was really positive, and they especially enjoyed going behind the hoarding to see behind the scenes.
