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Gatwick Airportto East Croydon

Our pickTrainThameslink15–32 min£4.10–£6.60

Tap a contactless card at the South Terminal gates and take the first Southern or Thameslink train north; the fast ones reach East Croydon in 15 minutes for £4.10 off-peak or £6.60 in the weekday peaks. If you land late, plan around Thameslink, which kept an hourly train running through the night when we checked.

Last checked East Croydon to Gatwick

Compare 6 ways

  1. Train

    Southern

    Southern direct

    15–24 min

    £4.10–£6.60

    Contactless pay as you go (off-peak to peak)

    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)

    Up to 4 per hour · Direct

    Details for Southern
    Contactless
    Yes
    Step-free
    Yes
    Luggage
    Both stations are step-free (National Rail category A).
    From
    Gatwick Airport station, South Terminal
    To
    East Croydon
    Notes
    Northbound Southern trains to East Croydon show London Victoria as the destination. Midday trains took 15 minutes; the 23:55 took 24. The pay-as-you-go fare is the same whichever operator you board.

    Usually 36–80% of seats filled on weekdays, busiest 09:00–12:00. Checked (GTR load-weighing counts, 26 Jul–22 Aug 2026)

    Other sources (3)
  2. Private transfer

    Private transfer

    4 vehicle sizes

    18–45 min

    Vehicle sizes and single fares
    VehicleSeatsSingle fare
    Saloon3£48–£83Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Estate3£52–£93Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    MPV (6 passengers)6£58–£118Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Minibus (8 seats)8£75–£133Checked 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 (3 firms)
    Luggage
    All three firms size the saloon for two large cases; Gatwick Taxi Transfer seats three, the other two four.
    Notes
    Fixed saloon prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (£48 for Croydon town centre and South Croydon; it lists £50 to £65 for Purley, Coulsdon, Norbury and Thornton Heath and £54 for New Addington), UK Airport Taxi (£60) and Express Airport Transport (£83 on its Gatwick-to-Croydon page, £3 more than it charges the other way). Gatwick Taxi Transfer charges the same in both directions and includes the £10 airport charge, 45 minutes' free waiting from touchdown, a name board in arrivals and flight tracking, with no overnight or bank-holiday uplift. UK Airport Taxi includes airport charges and 40 minutes' free waiting and offers meet and greet and flight monitoring; its page is headed Croydon to Gatwick and shows no separate price for the other direction. Express Airport Transport says it runs 24 hours but lists no inclusions. Stated drive times: 18 to 40 minutes depending on the part of Croydon and traffic (Gatwick Taxi Transfer), 40 (Express Airport Transport), 41 (UK Airport Taxi) and 45 (Gatwick Airport). Airport Cars Gatwick, the airport's official private hire operator, prints no Croydon fare on its own site or on the airport's taxi page (quotes are online only), and no rank or black-cab tariff is published for this trip.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (4)

    Estate

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Express Airport Transport's estate takes three passengers and three large cases; Gatwick Taxi Transfer's takes four and three to four.
    Notes
    Fixed estate prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (from £52) and Express Airport Transport (£93). Gatwick Taxi Transfer charges the same in both directions and includes the £10 airport charge, 45 minutes' free waiting from touchdown, a name board in arrivals and flight tracking, with no overnight or bank-holiday uplift. Express Airport Transport says it runs 24 hours but lists no inclusions. Stated drive times: 18 to 40 minutes depending on the part of Croydon and traffic (Gatwick Taxi Transfer), 40 (Express Airport Transport), 41 (UK Airport Taxi) and 45 (Gatwick Airport). Airport Cars Gatwick, the airport's official private hire operator, prints no Croydon fare on its own site or on the airport's taxi page (quotes are online only), and no rank or black-cab tariff is published for this trip.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (3)

    MPV (6 passengers)

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Gatwick Taxi Transfer's five-to-seven-seat MPV takes five to seven cases, Express Airport Transport's six-passenger MPV+ six. Child seats are free at Gatwick Taxi Transfer.
    Notes
    Fixed prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (from £58 for a five-to-seven-seat MPV carrying four to seven) and Express Airport Transport (£118 for its six-passenger MPV+; its four-passenger MPV is £105). Gatwick Taxi Transfer charges the same in both directions and includes the £10 airport charge, 45 minutes' free waiting from touchdown, a name board in arrivals and flight tracking, with no overnight or bank-holiday uplift. UK Airport Taxi's six-seat van (£80) is left out because it carries five passengers and three suitcases. Stated drive times: 18 to 40 minutes depending on the part of Croydon and traffic (Gatwick Taxi Transfer), 40 (Express Airport Transport), 41 (UK Airport Taxi) and 45 (Gatwick Airport). Airport Cars Gatwick, the airport's official private hire operator, prints no Croydon fare on its own site or on the airport's taxi page (quotes are online only), and no rank or black-cab tariff is published for this trip.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (4)

    Minibus (8 seats)

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (3 firms)
    Luggage
    All three firms list eight large cases for an eight-seat minibus.
    Notes
    Fixed eight-seat minibus prices from Gatwick Taxi Transfer (from £75, for six to eight passengers), UK Airport Taxi (£106) and Express Airport Transport (£133). Gatwick Taxi Transfer charges the same in both directions and includes the £10 airport charge, 45 minutes' free waiting from touchdown, a name board in arrivals and flight tracking, with no overnight or bank-holiday uplift. UK Airport Taxi includes airport charges and 40 minutes' free waiting; Express Airport Transport lists no inclusions. Stated drive times: 18 to 40 minutes depending on the part of Croydon and traffic (Gatwick Taxi Transfer), 40 (Express Airport Transport), 41 (UK Airport Taxi) and 45 (Gatwick Airport). Airport Cars Gatwick, the airport's official private hire operator, prints no Croydon fare on its own site or on the airport's taxi page (quotes are online only), and no rank or black-cab tariff is published for this trip.
    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 direct

    Landing before dawn is covered by rail: on the weekday we checked, Thameslink left Gatwick at 03:45 and 04:20 and reached East Croydon in 24 and 19 minutes.

  • Lots of luggage

    Private transferPre-booked private hire (2 firms)

    Pre-booked estate to Croydon

    East Croydon's platforms connect to the exits by footbridge, and National Rail listed the lifts there as out of order when we checked, so with several large cases a car from arrivals is the safer bet; one firm publishes 8-seat minibuses from £75 for a big load.

  • Group or family

    TrainSouthern

    Southern direct

    Even in the weekday peak the fare is £6.60 a head, so a family of four pays less by train than the lowest £48 saloon quote, which covers only two suitcases, and a fast train takes 15 minutes against 18 to 45 by road.

  • After midnight

    TrainThameslink

    Thameslink direct

    Once the evening trains finish, Thameslink's hourly night service is the only rail link; the 00:42, 01:45 and 02:45 departures each took under half an hour.

Route notes

If you land in the small hours, the station inside the South Terminal is still staffed and its ticket office open, which matters if your card is declined at the gate at 3am. The airport puts it a five-minute walk from South Terminal arrivals; from the North Terminal, take the free two-minute shuttle first.

Contactless to East Croydon costs £4.10, or £6.60 if you tap in between 06:30 and 09:30 or 16:00 and 19:00 on a weekday. Unlike trains from the airport into Victoria or St Pancras, this journey has an evening peak too, so a late-afternoon landing pays the higher fare. Tap out at East Croydon with the same card or phone, or TfL may charge a maximum fare.

Any northbound Southern train to London Victoria, or Thameslink train to Bedford or Cambridge, will do; at midday they take 15 minutes. Ignore the Gatwick Express, which the airport describes as non-stop to Victoria, and in the late evening avoid the Peterborough trains that run via Redhill: the 23:40 took almost twice as long as the Bedford train three minutes earlier.

East Croydon is step-free on paper, but National Rail was showing the lifts between the platforms and the footbridge as out of order on 27 September, so check before relying on them with heavy cases. The main George Street entrance has the tram stop directly outside; the Cherry Orchard Road exit on the east side is the one beside the taxi rank.

Road is rarely worth it for one or two people: the airport lists 45 minutes by car, three times the train.

Guides for this route

Questions

Which exit at East Croydon for trams and taxis?

The main George Street entrance has the tram stop directly outside. For the taxi rank, use the Cherry Orchard Road exit on the east side of the station.

Is there a train from Gatwick to East Croydon after midnight?

Yes. On the weekday night we checked, Thameslink ran roughly hourly from Gatwick through the small hours, with departures at 00:42, 01:45, 02:45 and 03:45 taking 24 to 27 minutes.