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Gatwick Airportto Brighton

Our pickTrainThameslink30–33 min£9.90–£11.50

Board whichever direct Brighton train leaves Gatwick first: Thameslink runs about four an hour, Gatwick Express adds two more from Monday to Saturday, and the ride is roughly half an hour. Buy a ticket before the gates, because tapping a bank card does not work for stations south of Gatwick.

Last checked Brighton to Gatwick

Compare 7 ways

  1. Train

    Gatwick Express

    Gatwick Express, Monday to Saturday

    26–30 min

    £9.90–£11.50

    Off-Peak to Anytime single

    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)

    Up to 2 per hour · Direct

    Details for Gatwick Express
    Contactless
    No
    Step-free
    Yes
    From
    Gatwick Airport station, inside the South Terminal
    To
    Brighton station
    Notes
    Off-peak it calls only at Haywards Heath between Gatwick and Brighton; in the weekday evening peak it also stops at Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Preston Park. No Brighton service on Sundays, when it shuttles between Victoria and Gatwick only. Contactless pay-as-you-go is not valid south of Gatwick.

    Usually 6–41% of seats filled on weekdays, busiest 16:00–19:00. Checked (GTR load-weighing counts, 26 Jul–22 Aug 2026)

    On time (≤5 min) 53% · weekdays, 28 days to 28 Sep 2026 · Data: National Rail Enquiries (HSP) (368 of 696 measured weekday trains arrived within 5 minutes of the timetable, 1 Sep 2026 to 28 Sep 2026)

    Other sources (3)
  2. Coach

    National Express

    National Express 025 coach

    45–65 min

    £8.00

    Online from-price incl. £1.50 booking fee; limited seats, not a guaranteed fare

    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)

    Direct · Last 23:50

    Details for National Express

    Runs

    01:50–23:50

    Contactless
    No
    Step-free
    No
    Luggage
    One large suitcase (or two medium cases) plus one soft piece of hand luggage per passenger.
    From
    North Terminal lower forecourt, then South Terminal lower forecourt stops 1–5 about ten minutes later
    To
    Brighton Old Steine, stop S4
    Notes
    About 20 departures a day; times shown are from the North Terminal. Weekday departures in the small hours leave North Terminal at 01:50, 02:40 and 03:40. Journey is 45–55 minutes from the South Terminal and 55–65 from the North. The 025 does not call at Brighton railway station. Book online or in the app; the booking fee is waived for account holders.
    Other sources (2)
  3. Private transfer

    Private transfer

    4 vehicle sizes

    32–50 min

    Vehicle sizes and single fares
    VehicleSeatsSingle fare
    Saloon3£55–£84Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Estate4£62–£94Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    MPV (up to 6 passengers)6£80–£136Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Minibus (8 seats)8£95–£158Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Details for each vehicle size

    Saloon

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Both firms size the saloon for up to three passengers and two large cases.
    Notes
    Fixed prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (£55, same in both directions, Brighton BN1 to BN3) and LondonAirport-Taxi.com (£84, which it says applies both ways). Both include meet and greet and flight tracking; free waiting is 45 minutes from touchdown at Gatwick Taxi Transfer and 60 minutes at LondonAirport-Taxi.com. Gatwick Taxi Transfer includes the airport's £10 forecourt charge and adds no night or weekend premium; LondonAirport-Taxi.com says its price may vary for pickups between 23:00 and 06:00 and on bank holidays. Journey times stated: about 32 minutes (LondonAirport-Taxi.com), 35 to 40 off-peak and 40 to 50 at peak (Gatwick Taxi Transfer), 45 on average (Gatwick Airport). For comparison, Brighton & Hove Radio Cabs lists a £70 guide price that it says may change, Call A Cab quotes from £60 plus a £10 airport pick-up supplement, and Brighton City Chauffeur charges £80 for a Mercedes E-Class, an executive car. Airport Cars Gatwick, the airport's official private hire operator, publishes no Brighton fare and no rank or black-cab tariff is published for this trip.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (5)

    Estate

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Both firms size the estate for up to four passengers and four large cases.
    Notes
    Fixed prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (£62, same in both directions) and LondonAirport-Taxi.com (£94, stated to apply both ways). Both include meet and greet, flight tracking and free waiting (45 and 60 minutes respectively); Gatwick Taxi Transfer includes the £10 forecourt charge, and LondonAirport-Taxi.com says late-night (23:00 to 06:00) and bank-holiday prices may vary. Brighton & Hove Radio Cabs lists a £75 estate guide price, not a fixed fare. Airport Cars Gatwick, the official operator, publishes no Brighton fare.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (3)

    MPV (up to 6 passengers)

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Five large cases in both firms' MPV.
    Notes
    Gatwick Taxi Transfer charges £80 for a five-to-seven-seat MPV (four to seven passengers, five bags), the same both ways, with the £10 forecourt charge, 45 minutes' free waiting and flight tracking included. LondonAirport-Taxi.com charges £136 for its seven-seat MPV (six passengers, five large bags), with 60 minutes' free waiting and flight tracking; its prices may vary 23:00 to 06:00 and on bank holidays. Brighton City Chauffeur's Mercedes V-Class, an executive seven-seater, is £100 from Gatwick. Airport Cars Gatwick, the official operator, publishes no Brighton fare.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (3)

    Minibus (8 seats)

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Eight large cases in Gatwick Taxi Transfer's minibus, seven in LondonAirport-Taxi.com's.
    Notes
    Fixed prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (£95 for six to eight passengers, same both ways, £10 forecourt charge and 45 minutes' waiting included) and LondonAirport-Taxi.com (£158 for an eight-seat Sprinter-type van, 60 minutes' waiting included, may vary 23:00 to 06:00 and on bank holidays). Two Brighton firms print lower non-fixed figures for five to eight passengers: Brighton & Hove Radio Cabs a £90 guide price, and Call A Cab from £79 plus a £10 airport pick-up supplement. Airport Cars Gatwick, the official operator, publishes no Brighton fare.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (4)

Bars share one scale on this page. Hours are first and last departures as recorded; the ochre mark is the time now in London. Paying by contactless has its own rules at Gatwick: read the contactless guide. checked on the date in each option's details · not yet confirmed against a second source.

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Which should I pick?

  • Early flight

    TrainThameslink

    Thameslink, stopping service

    Landing around dawn, check the station screens for the next Thameslink or Gatwick Express south before heading out to the coach stops, because the 025 has a gap, with nothing from the North Terminal between 05:30 and 07:05 on weekdays.

  • Lots of luggage

    Private transferPre-booked private hire (2 firms)

    Estate, fixed price, airport pickup

    Brighton's taxi rank is round the back of the station and the 025 sets down at Old Steine, so with bulky cases a pre-booked estate at £62 to £94 fixed is the easier finish, and both firms' prices include at least 45 minutes' free waiting if your bags are slow off the belt.

  • Group or family

    Private transferPre-booked private hire (2 firms)

    8-seat minibus, fixed price, airport pickup

    An eight-seat minibus at £95 to £158 fixed covers up to eight people and their bags; at the low end that is about what eight adults would pay in walk-up Anytime train fares.

  • After midnight

    CoachNational Express

    National Express 025 coach

    On weekday nights the 025 leaves the North Terminal at 01:50, 02:40 and 03:40, calling at the South Terminal ten minutes later; we could not confirm any night train to Brighton, so the coach is the service to plan around.

Route notes

Sort your ticket before you reach the gates of the station in the South Terminal (North Terminal arrivals take the free two-minute shuttle across first): a tap of your bank card is fine for London-bound trips, but it is not accepted for Brighton or anywhere else south of the airport, and Oyster is no help either. The ticket office is staffed round the clock, and the machines and e-tickets work too.

Brighton trains come from two brands on the same tracks. Gatwick Express is the quicker of the two, with only Haywards Heath in between off-peak, but it runs just twice an hour and not at all on Sundays. Thameslink trains towards Brighton appear about four times an hour and make more stops. Unless you have a ticket tied to one operator, board whichever is due first rather than waiting.

Brighton station is step-free to every platform. The taxi rank is at the rear of the building, not by the main entrance, so anyone with heavy bags should look for it before walking out the front.

The 025 coach is slower than rail but it is the one to know about late at night. It picks up on the North Terminal lower forecourt, outside International Arrivals, then at South Terminal stops 1 to 5, and sets Brighton passengers down at Old Steine near the seafront rather than at the station. The allowance is one large case plus a soft bag.

For a cab, Airport Cars Gatwick staff both terminals but publish no Brighton price, so ask for a quote before you get in. Weekend engineering work on the Brighton line sometimes swaps trains for buses; the coach is unaffected when that happens.

Guides for this route

Questions

Can I tap in with a contactless card from Gatwick to Brighton?

No. Pay-as-you-go by contactless covers London-bound trips from Gatwick, but not stations south of the airport such as Brighton, so buy a ticket at the machines, the ticket office or online before the gates.

Does the airport coach stop at Brighton railway station?

No. The National Express 025 sets down in Brighton at Old Steine, stop S4, after earlier stops along London Road and Preston Road; it does not call at the station.