Gatwick to London by Train - East Croydon trick

24/2/22  Updated with carriage details

In a previous post about the pricing quirks of travelling from Gatwick to Zone 1 or Zone 2, I mentioned that you could also reduce the price by exiting at East Croydon and reentering straight away.

Since I used it recently, I thought it was worth going through in more detail.

The standard price between Gatwick and Zone 2 in London is £12.90 peak and £8.70 off peak

But if you break your journey at East Croydon, the price between Gatwick and East Croydon is £5.50 peak or £3.40 off peak

And the price between East Croydon and Zone 2 is £4 peak or £3 off peak (as long as you don't travel through Zone 1)

So that's a total of £9.50 peak or £6.40 off peak with the East Croydon break - compared with £12.90 peak and £8.70 off peak if you don't break your journey.

You may say that it's just not worth the hassle to save £3.40 peak of £2.30 off peak ... but actually it may not be much hassle at all (if you're only travelling with hand luggage).

Trains from Gatwick to East Croydon mostly end in either Victoria or Blackfriars - so you may find that the first train from Gatwick goes to the wrong destination.  In which case, take it, do the barrier trick at East Croydon, and return to the same platform at East Croydon for the train that you actually want!  I did this recently and it worked a treat.

And if you're really lucky, at East Croydon you can get up the ramp from the platform to the ticket barrier, out and in, and back down the ramp to the same train that you just arrived on - although I've only managed this once on a busy train that was slow to depart.

The prices are the same either to or from Gatwick - although if you're rushing for a flight, you probably don't want to do this!

With Zone 1, the non change pricing is £18.30 peak or £11.10 off peak

And with the change in East Croydon it's £7.30 + £5.50 peak or £5.20 + £3.40 off peak

So the Zone 1 savings are £5.50 peak or £2.50 off peak

If you are jumping out at East Croydon, on the journey towards London, in a 12 carriage train you want the rear of the 11th carriage.  Then it's up the ramp on your right, turn right at the top, through the gateline and back again.

Enjoy the saving whilst this trick still works.