These will be 10-car trains newly formed from refurbished SWT and former Gatwick Express rolling stock.

National Express services 025 from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport and Brighton, and 027 from Victoria to Chichester also serve Wallington.

In 1996 the group acquired its first UK rail franchises, Gatwick Express and Midland Mainline.

In June 2008 Gatwick Express was absorbed into Southern franchise

British Rail launched Gatwick Express, the world's first non-stop airport to city centre rail service, between the airport and London Victoria station.

Gatwick Express is the name of a high-frequency passenger service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport in South East England, operated by Southern.

The Gatwick Express service commenced in May 1984 with air-conditioned InterCity stock.

In June 2008 Gatwick Express ceased to exist as a separate franchise, being merged into the Southern franchise, although continuing to maintain its own identity.

Some peak-hour Gatwick Express services now continue beyond Gatwick Airport to Brighton.

The origins of the Gatwick Express service come from the initial opening of Gatwick Airport railway station in June 1958.

Class 73 hauling Mark 2 stock on a Gatwick Express service through Clapham Junction

In May 1984 the non-stop Gatwick Express service commenced with Mark 2 stock.

Gatwick Express was the first portion of British Rail's InterCity sector to be converted into a separate train operating unit, ready for franchising as a private business with the assets transferred to Gatwick Express Limited ( legal name Gatwick Express Limited, company no 2912338 ) in March 1994.

In April 2007 the Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the South Central franchise with the services transferring to Southern ( legal name New Southern Railway Limited, company no 3010919 ) on 22 June 2008.

In April 2007 the Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the South Central franchise.

It is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead and Keolis and has operated the South Central rail franchise since August 2001 and the Gatwick Express service since June 2008.

In April 2007 the Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the South Central franchise.

The South Central franchise end date was brought forward to September 2009 upon the integration of the Gatwick Express service, in order to allow the new operator to be in place during major changes to the timetable in and around South London in December 2009.

In the run up to the bidding process for the South Central / Gatwick Express combined franchise, reports emerged suggesting that Transport for London, the operator of the London Overground service, wished to take control of all overground services in South London, including the ' Metro ' area of the South Central franchise, however such a transfer never took place and the entire franchise was put forward for tender by the Department for Transport.

Gatwick Express, formerly a separate franchise but now operated by Southern, runs from platforms 13 and 14 at Victoria and is a shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport every 15 minutes.

Along with the rest of the Gatwick Express franchise, it has now passed to Southern.

Upon privatisation of British Rail, the Gatwick Express franchise was won by the National Express Group.

After privatisation, the entire Class 488 fleet passed to the Gatwick Express franchise.

With the franchise agreement due to end in 1999, CityFlyer Express was the second largest slot holder at Gatwick Airport ( behind British Airways ).

The feeder services CityFlyer provided for BA at Gatwick under the franchise agreement did not impact the direct operating costs of BA's mainline operation.

This suited Gatwick's revenue environment and was the main reason BA decided to make the franchise agreement with CityFlyer Express a central plank of its strategy to achieve sustained, overall profitability at Gatwick.

Unlike some of the North American commuter carriers that operate under franchise agreements on the same routes as their mainline partners using smaller aircraft at less busy times, BA's franchisees only operated on routes the company's mainline short haul operation could not serve profitably from Gatwick itself due to its higher cost base.

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines opened a route from London Stansted in October 2008 though it was rumoured that flights were being cancelled due to minimum take up though with effect from May 2008, TACV now fly direct from London Gatwick every Thursday to Sal and Praia.

It was also the year Silver City complemented its Gatwick — Le Touquet all-passenger operation with a vehicle ferry service.

In 2011 it was the fourth busiest airport in the United Kingdom after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.

The race has been held at Aintree each year since 1839, with the exception of 1916 – 1918 during the First World War when it was held at Gatwick Racecourse, 1941 – 1945 during the Second World War when it was called off, and in 1993 when the race was declared void owing to a false start.

For three years during the First World War, while Aintree Racecourse was taken over by the War Office, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse, a disused course on land now occupied by Gatwick Airport.

It was the main airport for London before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport.

On 21 October 2009, it was announced that agreement had been reached to sell Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners ( GIP ), the owners of London City Airport, for £ 1. 51 billion.

On 18 June 2010, it was reported that CalPERS, California's and the US's biggest state pension fund, had bought a 12. 7 % equity stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP.

Until the 19th century, it was owned by the De Gatwick family.

It was called Gatwick Aerodrome.

Following the official reopening, Tinsley Green railway station was renamed Gatwick Airport.

Gatwick went back to private flying and was contracted as a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) flying school.

* 1946: Gatwick Airport was officially decommissioned, but the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued to operate it as a civil airfield, initially for a six-month trial period.

The original Gatwick railway station was renamed Gatwick Racecourse.

* 1950: Despite opposition from local authorities, the Cabinet decided that Gatwick was to be an alternative to Heathrow.

* 30 May 1958: Before the official opening, Transair operated the first commercial air service from the new Gatwick ; a Jersey Airlines de Havilland Heron was the first scheduled aircraft to arrive at the newly reconstructed airport.

The first " official " flight to depart Gatwick following the reopening ceremony was a BEA DC-3 operating a charter for Surrey County Council to Jersey and Guernsey.