Rolling Stock
Up until 1984 the service was operated by Class 423 slam door stock.
From May 1984 Mark 2F stock released from Midland Main Line duties coupled to a Class 489 Goods Luggage Van took over the services with Class 73s.
A franchise commitment by National Express was the replacement of these with new stock hence eight Class 460 Junipers start to be delivered from January 1999. Ongoing reliability problems would see some of the old stock remain in service until 2005.
To replace the last of the old stock, a pair of Class 458 Junipers were transferred from South West Trains for use as spares. They remained in their existing livery but with Gatwick Express branding. Their seating was modified from high density 3+2 seating configuration to 2+2 configuration with some seating was removed and replaced with luggage racks. However these units were never called into service and returned to South West Trains.
To provide extra capacity on the services extended to Brighton, from December 2008 seventeen Class 442 Wessex Electrics last used by South West Trains began to enter service. After retaining the franchise in 2009, Southern leased the remaining seven Class 442s.
The Class 460s were gradually withdrawn from service from 2010 with the last being withdrawn in September 2012.
Read more about this topic: Gatwick Express
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