Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Getting off a train /plane at Gatwick airport with a bike

Below reply I received today after complaining about signage. There is a beautiful off-road cycle path to Gatwick that you suggest is not signed from exiting the railway station. I’ve shared your email with our Surface Transport team, and they’ve reviewed your notes. They’ve provided me with their comments and now I’m able to respond. Whilst I’d like to apologise for the incorrect guidance you were provided with from some of the staff working at London Gatwick and our partners in the train station, I’d like to provide the following notes. We do appreciate the feedback for the signage and wayfinding issues that you raised, and this is being reviewed, although we do need to balance the needs of cyclists and all the other users of London Gatwick. The cycle lift is located just to the left-hand side of the exit from the train station, follow signs for Airport Terminals. We have a map of the cycle facilities and the routes available on our website, however I note that the cycle lift is not included on this. From your feedback we’ll update this information to help people accessing the airport to find the lift in advance of arriving. We do really value our position on the National Cycle Route 21 and are currently working on a project to improve the look and feel of the route through the airport, including improving surfacing, lighting and wayfinding to support cyclists who want to access the airport as well as those travelling through. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise once again for the difficulty of navigating our terminal, but also to thank you for raising these valid points with us as we’ll continue to look at improving our services for all.

3 comments:

Simon L said...

Thanks for raising this Steph. I've never cycled to/from the airport but I have found it difficult to follow the cycle route through the airport, so I agree that they have some work to do to make it easy to use.

Diane said...

Excellent work Steph!

Brian said...

Thanks Steph. There are two exits from the station platforms. Last time I came back from Newhaven on the train I ended up on the footbridge at the north end of the platforms whereas the cycle lift to NCN21 is near the exit from the footbridge further south which I had used previously. The sign posting was non existent and the staff knowledge poor so it would be good if they improve both.