It's a surprise to find a station serving as a small village as Balcombe, especially on a main…read moreline. However, the lack of good roads to and from the village, and its proximity to London, ensures a healthy flow of commuter traffic, with Balcombe acting as a rail-head for several villages around - it is used by just over 100,000 passengers a year. It's an attractive small station, the east side nestling in a cutting, and surrounded on all sides by mature trees and shrubs, and is very popular at week-ends with walkers exploring the surrounding woodlands. The station opened on 12 July 1841 as an intermediate station on the then London and Brighton Railway, later amalgamated into the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The 1841 census shows that there were 550 railway labourers living in the village at the time - which must have been challenging for the locals! The station has been rationalised over the years, but retains a small building on the down (Brighton) platform, complete with Victorian canopy, ticket office and toilet. The office is only open at peak times (the toilet is also closed when the office is shut). If this is the case, you need to buy a 'permit to travel' from the machine and buy a ticket on board. The up platform (for London) has a small waiting shelter with step-free access from the car park, and there are car parking spaces and a cycle rack on this side of the station. A footbridge provides access between the platforms, and also provides the exit to London Road at the top of the cutting. Note that there is no step-free access to the Brighton platform. An oddity is the extension of the Brighton platform under the small tunnel at the south of the station: this is only used to board and alight from trains, and a sign warns not to enter the tunnel when a through (ie non-stopping) train is approaching which they do, at some speed. The service is fairly sparse: off-peak, Monday to Saturday there is one train an hour in each direction, on the First Capital Connect service from Bedford to Brighton via London Bridge. On Sundays, an hourly service is provided by Southern on the Brighton to London Victoria line. Additional services stop during rush hours in both directions. To the north of the station is Balcombe tunnel, 800 yards long, and to the south the famous Ouse viaduct, the first long railway viaduct in southern Britain. At 1,475 ft (450m) long, faced with Caen stone and with four Italianate pavilions at each end, it is regarded as one of the most attractive in the UK.

Haywards Heath is one of the principal stations on the main line between London and Brighton,…read moreserving the commuter town of the same name which has grown up around it. It's not an architectural gem, but it's functional and has a good range of train services. The station opened in July 1841 as the temporary southern terminus on the London to Brighton Railway, and became a through station when the line to Brighton opened in its entirety in September of that year. In 1847 a line was opened from Wivelsfield, just south of Haywards Heath, to Lewes, providing direct lines to Newhaven and Hastings, and 1864 another line opened, to the north, towards Horsted Keynes on the Lewes to East Grinstead line. The line to Horsted Keynes closed in 1963. The station was rebuilt with two long, spacious island platforms in 1933, when the Brighton line was electrified. The street-level buildings are in an unremarkable version of the Modernist style, of brick with concrete canopies. The platforms level buildings are similarly functional and have deep awnings. Since electrification the station has become an important station for dividing trains heading respectively on the lines east towards Lewes and west to Hove and the 'West Coastway' line (avoiding Brighton) and for the same trains joining when heading north. Indeed, it is now the busiest station for this practice in the UK. The station has a regular off-peak service each hour as follows: Northbound Bedford via London Bridge and St Pancras 4 per hour London Victoria 2 per hour Watford Junction - hourly Southbound Brighton 5 trains per hour Littlehampton via Hove and Worthing 2 per hour Eastbourne 2 per hour (one extended to Hastings and Ore) Note: the half-hourly fast Victoria-Brighton trains do not stop here in the off-peak. In the peak hours all Brighton trains call here, providing an intensive service. All northbound trains stop at Gatwick Airport. The station is staffed 24 hours a day, and has a ticket office, waiting rooms, toilets and a large buffet, and step free access is available across the whole of the station (via lifts). There is also storage for over 60 bicycles and a 630-space car park. A limited number of local buses call at the station: see http://www.compass-travel.co.uk .

Whilst I may be living in Haywards Heath, I spend much of my time in Brighton for study,…read moresocialising and shopping. Hence, I am a frequent user of the station. It's one of the main connectors of the south, so is a featured stop for fast services as well as the stop at every station trains. This makes it handy for getting to Gatwick, Brighton and London and you end up waiting less time for a train than at other stations in the area. I think that this is a reason why Haywards heath has become such a popular commuting town and the large station car park attests to this claim! Being a busier station, you also find coffee/snack bars and waiting rooms that are actually open. Now whilst not a fault of the station I do find that a higher percentage of trains get delayed than I would like, so these waiting features are really appreciated. The station staff are helpful for any traveling inquiries or suggestions of cheaper way to get from a to b (sadly, I never seem to qualify for such savings). There are also 3 self service ticket machines if you want to save some time or are cutting your arrival a bit fine before your train departs. There is also a covered area to store bicycles if you are feeling like a healthy commute. All in all, you could do far worse if you have to kill 15-20 minutes waiting for a train than Haywards Heath!

Gatwick Airport Railway Station is conveniently located 5 minutes walking distance from both the…read morearrival and departures for the south terminal or about a 2 minutes walk after a shuttle over to or from the North terminal. They had many trains coming and going so you don't have to stress and rush to make it to the train. You can choose to buy a train ticket on the day of your trip , purchase an Oyster card which is a reloadable card for public transportation in London, or use your contactless payment method like a credit card, apple pay or android pay. The contactless payment is the easiest and preferred method for me when travelling. We were able to take a direct train ride to the station by our hotel and travel efficiently. This is probably the best value option to get into the city, as a taxi will cost too much and a bus would take too much time.

Easy to navigate rail station right beside the airport. It took us just a couple minutes to walk…read morethrough the retail vendors in the south airport to the train platforms. Nice signs to tell you next train arriving but platforms are narrow. No need to buy a train ticket, just use your phone to tap and enter station. Tap out when you arrive at your destination.

This airport never fails to amaze me, as this is my nearest airport I go here quite frequently, you…read morewill always find seats no matter what time of year as both terminals are massive. The walk to the gates isn't that long compared to Stansted, the passport control queues are mostly good but in summer they can be pain, getting out of the airport is so easy, you can take the local bus (MetroBus) towards Crawley, or you can take the National Express bus towards London or the train, The only bad things are the amount of delays they are, and the £10 drop-off charge, otherwise staff are so nice and friendly.

We took a direct Norse flight from Los Angeles Airport (LAX) into London Gatwick Airport (LGW)…read more They are a secondary hub for British Airways and one of the largest operating bases for budget flights. My experience with this airline is only as an arrival, as I travelled through other parts of Europe by train and by air. The arrival was quite smooth as far as international travel is concerned. We were able to get through customs quickly. However sadly no stamp on the passport for the international travel. Restrooms had abundant stalls but there were really busy. The handwashing stations were individually in each stall. I had a decent experience in the women's stalls where I was comfortable enough to brush my teeth and wash my face. However my boyfriend mentioned that the men's side was really gross, not clean enough to clean up and reset after the long flight. My favorite thing about this airport is that it is connected to a train system that will take you into central London or whichever surrounding area you need to get to. Navigating was pretty simple. A quick and convenient arrival. I would consider flying back into this airport in the future.

Polegate station serves the town of the same name on the northern edge of the Eastbourne…read moreconurbation, and is served by trains on the West Coastway line. It handles around 0.9m passengers a year. The first station on the site opened in 1846 on the Lewes to St Leonards railway line. It became the junction for Eastbourne and for the line northwards to Hailsham in 1849, with the Hailsham line being extended northwards to Eridge on the Uckfield-Groombridge Junction line in 1880. In 1881, to avoid Eastbourne-Hailsham trains having to reverse, a new station was opened further east. The Hailsham line closed in 1968, and the short direct line to Hastings has also closed, necessitating the reversal of all eastbound trains at Eastbourne. In 1986, the 1881 station was closed (it is now a restaurant) and a replacement opened on the site of the original 1846 station, on Polegate High street, and this is the station in use today. It has two platforms, with the main buildings on the north, Eastbourne-bound line. Facilities include a car park, ticket office, waiting rooms or shelters, ticket machines, and cycle storage, but no toilets. There is step-free access both to the ticket office and via short steep ramps to each platform. Between the platforms, there is a footbridge: level access is via the High Street level crossing (allow 5 minutes). Services are provided by Southern; there are two trains an hour to each of Brighton and London Victoria, both via Lewes; and four eastbound to Eastbourne, two of which continue to Hastings and Ore, and one to Ashford.

Just your average train station. Nice long and wide platforms with two waiting rooms (which are…read moreheated!) Good barrier system, although I was sad when the old signal box was removed. Great direct links to London, Brighton, Eastbourne and many more. Staff are nice, there are three (I think) ticket buying machines and two kiosks inside the station. Information packs readily available, you can buy Railcards from here too. I like the welcoming feeling of this station, which also has a night gate for late exits when the barriers are off. I'd recommend this to families, commuters and just about anyone due to the wide platforms and nice service.

What a beautiful train station! It was definitely a sight to see and a great location to see when…read moreyou are in London. We specifically came here because we purchased a Eurostar train ticket to Paris. From arriving, to checking in, going through customs, it was very organized and people paid attention. It wasn't chaos as it tends to get in the US. The whole process to getting on and off the train was a piece of cake-definitely not stressful at all. If you are trying to get to Paris, Amsterdam, or any outer cities near London, this is the place to be when needing to take a train. I highly recommend Eurostar since it is a high speed train and will get you to your next destination fairly quick. If you are not planning to leave the city, I still recommend checking it out since it is a beauty and I heard, Harry Potter was filmed here.

Clean station. Hustle and bustle, busy. Clear signage…read more Getting from one platform to another is easy breezy. High-speed trains to get you to international destinations in no time.