Editing Crawley (section)

== Transport ==
Crawley's development as a market town was helped by its location on the London–Brighton turnpike. The area was joined to the [[Rail transport in Great Britain|railway network]] in the mid-19th century; and since the creation of the new town, there have been major road upgrades (including a motorway link), a [[guided bus]] transit system and the establishment of an airport which has become one of Britain's largest and busiest.

=== Road ===

The London–Brighton turnpike ran through the centre of Crawley, forming the High Street and Station Road. When Britain's major roads were classified by the British government's Ministry of Transport between 1919 and 1923,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} it was given the number [[A23 road|A23]]. It was bypassed by a new dual carriageway in 1938<ref name="Baseline11">{{cite web|url=http://www.crawley.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/report/int163920.pdf|title=Crawley Baseline Character Assessment|date=May 2009|publisher=EDAW/[[AECOM]]|page=11|access-date=29 October 2009|archive-date=8 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608024540/http://www.crawley.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/report/int163920.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> (which forms the A23's current route through the town), and then later to the east side of the town by the [[M23 motorway]], which was opened in 1975. This connects London's orbital motorway, the [[M25 motorway|M25]], to the A23 at [[Pease Pottage]], at the southern edge of Crawley's built-up area. The original single-carriageway A23 became the A2219. The M23 has junctions in the Crawley area at the A2011/[[A264 road|A264]] (Junction 10) and Maidenbower (area of Crawley) (Junction 10A). The end of the motorway at Pease Pottage is Junction 11. The A2011, another dual-carriageway, joins the A23 in West Green and provides a link, via the A2004, to the town centre. 

The main east-west links are provided by the A2220, which follows the former route of the A264 through the town, linking the A23 directly to the A264 at [[Copthorne, West Sussex|Copthorne]], from where it then runs to [[East Grinstead]]. The A264 also connects Crawley to [[Horsham]] to the south-west.

=== Rail ===
[[File:Crawley Station 01 (07-07-2007).JPG|thumb|right|[[Crawley railway station|Crawley station]], with five storeys of offices above the ticket office and concourse area]]

The first railway line in the area was the [[Brighton Main Line]], which opened as far as [[Haywards Heath railway station|Haywards Heath]] on 12 July 1841 and reached Brighton on 21 September 1841. It ran through Three Bridges, which was then a small village east of Crawley, and [[Three Bridges railway station|a station]] was built to serve it.<ref name="VicKeithTBB4">{{Harvnb|Mitchell|Smith|1986a|p=4.}}</ref>

A line to [[Horsham railway station|Horsham]], now part of the [[Arun Valley Line]], was opened on 14 February 1848. [[Crawley railway station|A station]] was provided next to Crawley High Street from that date.<ref name="VicKeithCL4">{{cite book|last= Mitchell|first= Vic|author2=Keith Smith|title= Southern Main Lines: Crawley to Littlehampton|year= 1986|publisher=Middleton Press|location= Midhurst|isbn= 0-906520-34-7|page= 4}}</ref> A new station was constructed slightly to the east, in conjunction with the Overline House commercial development, and replaced the original station which closed on 28 July 1968. The ticket office and Up (London-bound) platform waiting areas form the ground floor of the office building.<ref name="Body75">{{Harvnb|Body|1984|p=75.}}</ref>

The urban area of Crawley is served by a total of three rail stations including [[Ifield railway station]]. Due to Crawley's expansion this station is now surrounded by the town's western areas. Opened as ''Lyons Crossing Halt'' on 1 June 1907 to serve the village of Ifield, it was soon renamed ''Ifield Halt'', dropping the "Halt" suffix in 1930.<ref name="VicKeithCL15">{{Harvnb|Mitchell|Smith|1986b|p=15.}}</ref>

Regular train services run from Crawley, and also Ifield, to [[London Victoria railway station|London Victoria]] and [[London Bridge railway station|London Bridge]] stations, [[Gatwick Airport railway station|Gatwick Airport]], [[East Croydon railway station|East Croydon]], [[Horsham railway station|Horsham]], [[Bognor Regis railway station|Bognor Regis]], [[Chichester railway station|Chichester]], [[Portsmouth Harbour railway station|Portsmouth]] and [[Southampton Central railway station|Southampton]]. Three Bridges has direct [[Govia Thameslink Railway|Thameslink]] trains to [[Bedford railway station|Bedford]] and [[Brighton railway station|Brighton]].<ref name="tt3">{{cite web|url=http://southernrailway.go-cms.co.uk/content/doc/pdf/timetable_a_157.pdf|title=West Coastway and Arun Valley: London, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Arun Valley & Brighton to Hove, Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Portsmouth & Southampton|access-date=7 April 2008|publisher=New Southern Railway Ltd|year=2007|work=Southern timetable booklet 3 (at Southern website)|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080624191331/http://southernrailway.go-cms.co.uk/content/doc/pdf/timetable_a_157.pdf |archive-date = 24 June 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="tt2">{{cite web|url=http://southernrailway.go-cms.co.uk/content/doc/pdf/timetable_a_195.pdf|title=Brighton Main Line: London, East Croydon, Tonbridge and Redhill to Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley and Horsham|access-date=7 April 2008|publisher=New Southern Railway Ltd|year=2007|work=Southern timetable booklet 2 (at Southern website)|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080624191335/http://southernrailway.go-cms.co.uk/content/doc/pdf/timetable_a_195.pdf |archive-date = 24 June 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Bus and Fastway ===
[[File:Metrobus in Crawley - YN54 AJV.JPG|thumb|right|A [[Metrobus (South East England)|Metrobus]] [[double-decker bus]] at Crawley bus station]]
Crawley was one of several towns where the boundaries of [[Southdown Motor Services]] and [[London Transport Executive|London Transport]] bus services met. In 1958 the companies reached an agreement which allowed them both to provide services in all parts of the town.<ref name="SouthdownDays">{{Harvnb|Kraemer-Johnson|Bishop|2005|pp=48–55}}</ref> When the [[National Bus Company (UK)|National Bus Company]] was formed in 1969, its [[London Country Bus Services]] subsidiary took responsibility for many routes, including [[Green Line Coaches]] cross-London services which operated to distant destinations such as [[Watford]], [[Luton]] and [[Amersham]]. A coach station was opened by Southdown in 1931 on the A23 at County Oak, near Lowfield Heath: it was a regular stopping point for express coaches between London and towns on the Sussex coast. This traffic started to serve Gatwick when the airport began to grow, however.<ref name="SouthdownDays"/>  When the National Bus Company was broken up, local services were provided by the new [[London Country South West|South West division]] of London Country Bus Services, which later became part of the [[Arriva]] group. [[Metrobus (South East England)|Metrobus]] acquired these routes from Arriva in March 2001, and is now Crawley's main operator.<ref name="goahead">{{cite web|url=http://www.go-ahead.com/Main.php?sFileName=NewsRelease.php&iNewsId=130&s |title=Acquisition of Crawley Depot |access-date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Go Ahead Group |year=2001 |work=Go Ahead Group website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116023202/http://www.go-ahead.com/Main.php?sFileName=NewsRelease.php&iNewsId=130&s |archive-date=16 January 2009 }}</ref> It provides local services between the neighbourhoods and town centre, and longer-distance routes to [[Horsham]], [[Redhill, Surrey|Redhill]], [[Tunbridge Wells]], [[Worthing]] and [[Brighton]].<ref name="buses">{{cite web |url=http://www.metrobus.co.uk/service_index.php |title=Timetables & Route Index |access-date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Go Ahead Group |year=2007 |work=Metrobus Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709064631/http://www.metrobus.co.uk/service_index.php |archive-date=9 July 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In September 2003 a [[guided bus]] service, [[Crawley Fastway|Fastway]], began operating between [[Bewbush, Crawley|Bewbush]] and [[Gatwick Airport]].<ref name="fastway">{{cite web|url=http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=2383834&|title=Fastway: Phase One Service Launched|access-date=31 July 2007|publisher=West Sussex County Council|year=2003|work=Fastway, Issue 6|format=PDF|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927011702/http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=2383834& |archive-date = 27 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> A second route, from Broadfield to the Langshott area of [[Horley]], north of Gatwick Airport, was added on 27 August 2005.<ref name="route20">{{cite web|url=http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=2383828&|title=Fastway information and timetable from 27&nbsp;August 2005|access-date=5 September 2007|publisher=West Sussex County Council|year=2005|work=Fastway leaflet (2005) at West Sussex County Council Roads & Transport website|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927011605/http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=2383828& |archive-date = 27 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Gatwick Airport ===
[[File:LGW North Terminal pier 5.JPG|thumb|right|Gatwick is the world's second busiest single-runway international airport.<ref name="Times_of_India">{{cite news|last1=V|first1=Manju|title=Now, Mumbai world's busiest airport with only one runway|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/now-mumbai-worlds-busiest-airport-with-only-one-runway/articleshow/58652790.cms|access-date=13 May 2017|work=The Times of India|date=13 May 2017|archive-date=13 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513081650/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/now-mumbai-worlds-busiest-airport-with-only-one-runway/articleshow/58652790.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{main|Gatwick Airport}}
Gatwick Airport was licensed as a private airfield in August 1930.<ref name="Gwynne147">{{Harvnb|Gwynne|1990|p=147.}}</ref> It was used during the Second World War as an [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] base, and returned to civil use in 1946. There were proposals to close the airport in the late 1940s, but in 1950 the government announced that it was to be developed as London's second airport.<ref name="Gwynne160">{{Harvnb|Gwynne|1990|p=160.}}</ref> It was closed between 1956 and 1958 for rebuilding. [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Her Majesty The Queen]] reopened it on 9 June 1958. A second terminal, the North Terminal, was built in 1988.<ref name="baa">{{cite web |url=http://www.gatwickairport.com/portal/controller/dispatcher.jsp?CiID=0fcae327ea262010VgnVCM100000147e120a____&ChID=594e1fb079432010VgnVCM100000147e120a____&Ct=B2C_CT_GENERAL&CtID=448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____&ChPath=Home%5ELGW%5EAbout+BAA+Gatwick%5EGatwick+lowdown%5EOur+history |title=Our History |access-date=1 August 2007 |publisher=BAA plc |year=2006 |work=BAA Gatwick Airport website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928105939/http://www.gatwickairport.com/portal/controller/dispatcher.jsp?CiID=0fcae327ea262010VgnVCM100000147e120a____&ChID=594e1fb079432010VgnVCM100000147e120a____&Ct=B2C_CT_GENERAL&CtID=448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____&ChPath=Home%5ELGW%5EAbout+BAA+Gatwick%5EGatwick+lowdown%5EOur+history |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
An agreement existed between [[BAA Limited|BAA]] and West Sussex County Council preventing the building of a second runway before 2019. Nevertheless, consultations were launched in 2002 by the [[Department for Transport]], at which proposals for additional facilities and runways were considered. It was agreed that there would be no further expansion at Gatwick unless it became impossible to meet growth targets at [[London Heathrow Airport]] within existing pollution limits.<ref name="dft">{{cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/archive/2002/fd/ |title=The future development of air transport in the UK |access-date=1 August 2007 |publisher=Department for Transport |year=2003 |work=Department for Transport website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505001421/http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/archive/2002/fd/ |archive-date=5 May 2007 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

===Walking===
The [[Worth Way]] is a {{convert|7|mi|adj=on}} long bridleway that connects Three Bridges with the town of East Grinstead to the east, following the trackbed of the former [[Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line|Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central railway line]]. In the north of the borough the {{convert|150|mi|adj=on}} mile long [[Sussex Border Path]] runs east-west on a route approximately following Sussex's borders from [[Thorney Island (West Sussex)|Thorney Island]] to [[Rye, East Sussex|Rye]].