Editing Gatwick Express (section)

=== Past services ===
From privatisation until December 2008, the service pattern was one train every 15 minutes non-stop between {{rws|London Victoria}} and {{rws|Gatwick Airport}}.

In April 2007, the Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the [[Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway)|South Central]] franchise.<ref>{{cite press release |url = http://www.whitehallpages.net/news/archive/26530 |title = Agreement signed to amend Gatwick Express and Southern franchises |publisher = Department for Transport |date = 19 June 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131102171503/http://www.whitehallpages.net/news/archive/26530 |archive-date=2 November 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url = http://www.go-ahead.com/media/news/2007news/2007-06-19.aspx |title = Agreement to Amend Gatwick Express and Southern Franchises |publisher = Go-Ahead |date = 19 June 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121123151534/http://go-ahead.com/media/news/2007news/2007-06-19.aspx |archive-date = 23 November 2012 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> as part of a plan to increase capacity on the [[Brighton Main Line]]. As a result, peak-time services were extended beyond Gatwick to/from {{rws|Brighton}} from December 2008, with northbound trains running every 15 minutes in the morning peak and southbound trains to Brighton every 15 minutes in the evening peak. This change doubled the number of London-to-Brighton express trains during peak periods. Additional calls were made at {{rws|Haywards Heath}}, {{rws|Wivelsfield}}, {{rws|Burgess Hill}}, {{rws|Hassocks}} and/or {{rws|Preston Park}}; the stopping pattern for northbound services was not regular but all stations received at least one train a day, while all services called at Haywards Heath; the southbound services were more structured, with all services calling at Haywards Heath and half-hourly services for Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Preston Park (no southbound trains served Wivelsfield).

As part of the December 2015 timetable, Gatwick Express began serving Brighton all day (except on Sundays), with half-hourly services in the off-peak and evenings (while the remaining services continue to terminate at Gatwick Airport). Unlike peak-time services, these call at no intermediate stations between Brighton and the airport. These services replaced the half-hourly "express" services operated by Southern (which did not call at Gatwick Airport).

In May 2018, the stopping pattern for peak-time services was changed: all calls at Wivelsfield and Preston Park stations were withdrawn, Hassocks is now served by all peak Gatwick Express services every 15 minutes, while Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath are served half-hourly (by alternate services) in both directions. Services to and from Preston Park were restored in May 2019, though, with half-hourly calls made by the same trains that stop at Burgess Hill.