Editing Gatwick Express (section)

=== Ticketing ===
London – Gatwick is one of the few journeys on the UK [[National Rail]] network for which tickets restricting travel to certain brands of service are available in addition to the option of standard inter-available fares for immediate travel as on all flows shared by different National Rail operators (although some restrictions may apply on cheaper tickets). Through tickets for which the [[Brighton Main Line]] is part of a permitted route are valid on the Gatwick Express service as with all other [[Govia Thameslink Railway]] services, the only exclusion being some tickets from London to stations south of Gatwick routed ''Not Gatwick Express''.

Historically, standard Gatwick Express services did not charge [[penalty fare]]s and permitted tickets to be purchased on board at no extra charge. Journeys to or from stations south of Gatwick were subject to penalty fares as normal.<ref name="SouthernGatExp">{{cite web |url = http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=601 |title = Gatwick Extension |publisher = Southern railway |access-date = 23 December 2008 |date = December 2008 }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="GatExpExtension">{{cite web |url = https://www.gatwickexpress.com/content.asp?pageid=118 |publisher = Southern |title = Gatwick Express – New Extended Service |access-date = 3 January 2009 |date = December 2008 }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This rule applied to the six weekday services each way that start or end at [[Brighton railway station|Brighton]].
However, in December 2011 electronic ticket gates were installed at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria platforms 13 and 14 (where the Gatwick Express arrives and departs), meaning that tickets can no longer be bought on the train and must be purchased either in advance or at the station before boarding.<ref name="gatwickexpressticketgates">{{cite web |url = http://www.gatwickexpress.com/en/your-journey/station-improvements/ticket-gates/ |publisher = Southern Railway |title = Ticket gates – Gatwick Express |access-date = 14 March 2012 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120307193702/http://www.gatwickexpress.com/en/your-journey/station-improvements/ticket-gates/ |archive-date = 7 March 2012 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

London [[Oyster Cards]] and [[Contactless payment|contactless cards]] have been accepted for travel since January 2016 between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-11-13/oyster-cards-to-be-used-at-gatwick-and-surrey-stations/ |title = Gatwick and Surrey stations to accept Oyster cards and contactless payments &#124; Meridian – ITV News |publisher = Itv.com |date = 13 November 2015 |access-date = 22 March 2017 |archive-date = 16 November 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151116023538/http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-11-13/oyster-cards-to-be-used-at-gatwick-and-surrey-stations/ |url-status = live }}</ref> The fare is charged differently at the Gatwick Express gateline at London Victoria station compared to other platforms which Southern services use.