Airport managers have put together a rail timetable which they claim will make life easier for commuters and save the Gatwick Express route from the axe.

The plan has been drawn up by the company running the Gatwick Express rail route, National Express, and the British Airports Authority (BAA), which owns and operates Gatwick.

Southern railway and Thameslink, which run routes between Brighton, Victoria and London Bridge, were also consulted.

Under the plan, Gatwick Express trains would start at Three Bridges instead of at Gatwick airport, where there is more space.

They would spend ten minutes at the platform instead of 20. There would still be four trains every hour and the timetable would be altered to reduce the risk of clashes with trains on the Thameslink and Southern railways routes.

Exact details of the new timetables are being kept under wraps until the Department for Transport has a chance to look over the plans.

Paul Griffiths, managing director of Gatwick, described the deal as a "compromise plan" which was needed to give airlines confidence the fast link between the airport and London would be kept.

He said: "Our joint proposal shows the differing needs of the commuter and the air traveller can be reconciled."

Commuters at Three Bridges would be able to take the Gatwick Express to Victoria and arrive within 30 minutes, although details of fares for commuters have not been revealed.

The plan's authors claim this would free up capacity on the packed commuter trains running from Brighton.

The airport would pay for baggage carriages to be converted into passenger carriages, as they have barely been used since security was tightened in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Shelley Atlas, of the Brighton Line Commuters group, said she hoped the new plan would stop packed commuter trains being held up to make way for the Gatwick Express.

But she added: "I don't know how stopping at Three Bridges would help us. I will be asking Southern railways what effect this will have on commuters."

Tony Mernagh, executive director of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said: "It is interesting they are prepared to compromise by bringing the route as far as Three Bridges but we would like to see it extended all the way to Brighton.

"I wonder how many people from Three Bridges would be prepared to pay substantially more to go to London that little bit quicker.

"There could be very little effect on congestion."

Wednesday, January 18, 2006