Post by HatunenIt's a little unclear just what a "dedicated" rail service is in
this context. The Gatwick Express is a train running on existing
tracks, and I assume it always has been.
Right. However, it deliberately has no intermediate stops, charges a
slightly[1] premium fare, and is quite deliberately aimed at air
travellers (with cumbersome luggage) in a part of the country where
commuter rail travel is (as we say) "wedged".
Post by HatunenFurthermore, the GE is just one of many train services to and
through Gatwick Airport, and it takes you to Victoria Station just
like many "undedicated" trains do. I'm not clear on just how the GE
is a dedicated
Indeed; and on the one hand, some people quite deliberately drive to,
and park their cars at, Gatwick Airport and take the more-expensive
fare in order to use the GatEx into Victoria, and thus avoid the
commuter crush. You don't need to prove you're an air passenger to
use it, so in that sense it isn't "dedicated".
Then again, on the other hand, air travellers - especially those who
have no interest in central London and/or have limited amounts of
luggage - can take whichever train best suits them. There's no actual
compulsion to use the GatEx.
But, having said that: forcing those who not only have cumbersome
luggage, but also want to get to the centre of London, to fight it out
with the crowds of battle-hardened commuters on regular stopping
trains, will not be a pretty sight.
Post by HatunenNow the Heathrow Express is the only service to Heathrow
Not counting the Underground line that goes there...
Post by Hatunenand runs on tracks installed especially for it, and is certainly
"dedicated".
Indeed. There's arguments for both kinds of operation; sometimes the
circumstances favour one, sometimes another. Glasgow are planning to
build the affordable option which their consultants told them was
pointless and a waste of money, as opposed to the worthwhile one which
the consultants told them they couldn't afford. Funny old world.
all the best
[1] I recall the old airport at Munich Riem. There was an adequate
city bus connecting with the tram or the S-Bahn, with a joint-tariff
(MVV) ticket that would take you anywhere in the city area. But
hidden at an obscure bus-stop that the casual visitor wouldn't find.
Or a prominently-advertised dedicated airport bus to the main railway
station (HBf) for a considerable sum of money (IIRC about 3 times the
standard joint-tariff fare for the city). From which, it cost exactly
the same to reach anywhere else in the city as it would have done from
the airport. So the price of the airport bus was pretty-much wasted,
unless you specifically wanted to go to the main station (and were
encumbered with luggage).