After safely switching platforms during the three minute connection time, I was safely at Hove railway station. To be fair, this isn’t going to be the most complex piece of transportation during this trip, but I was pleased that there were no delays here.
The original Hove railway station opened in 1840, but this was closed in 1880 and the railway station at this site opened in 1865 and was originally known as Cliftonville. It was renamed West Brighton in 1879, then renamed to Hove & West Brighton in 1894 before taking its current name of Hove in 1895.
Here the Southern Railways Thunderbolt rolling into the platform. It was a relatively busy train and an announcement was made that it was stopping additionally at Three Bridges to assist passengers having difficulty with the cancelled services between Brighton and London Gatwick.
We arrived on time into Gatwick Airport railway station which was rebuilt in 1958 from the former Gatwick Racecourse station. As an aside there was also a railway station at Tinsley Green, renamed Gatwick Airport in 1936 (one of the first airport railway stations), but this was later demolished (to make way for the 1958 station) and this was a little further along the line towards Three Bridges.
As an update, Jonathan had already arrived at Gatwick about 45 minutes before, so this meant that we were now both safely at the airport ready for the flight. It was good to arrive on time given we didn’t have a lot of time to spare and it was then promptly announced that our flight was delayed.
And with that, the trip began…..