BAA fights to save Gatwick Express

The airports operator BAA is reportedly rallying against the potential closure of the Gatwick Express service, saying that such a move would set the airport back 20 years. The group also says stopping the service would “put one million passengers a year back into cars”. As reported, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is planning to phase out the service from early 2006 in an effort to make the London to Brighton line more efficient. According to a report in The Independent, half of the three million Gatwick passengers who get to the airport by train use the Express service, but numbers have been reduced recently after British Airways transferred flights away from the airport. The Independent says BAA is now claiming that doing away with the service would leave air passengers “jostling for space with stressed commuters” after waiting on overcrowded platforms with their luggage. Paul Griffiths, deputy director of the airport, is quoted as saying: “The effect of the SRA plan would be disastrous for air passengers and commuters alike. “At a time when London is looking to its main airports as gateways to the world as part of its 2012 Olympic Games bid, it is simply unthinkable to welcome visitors to Britain through an airport with no fast and efficient rail journey to the capital.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd