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Gatwick Express comes to Mid Sussex
Plans to expand the Gatwick Express service down to Brighton with additional stops in Mid Sussex will help to regenerate Haywards Heath, says a council planner.
Train operator Southern has announced that six Gatwick Express trains in the morning rush hour will start at Brighton, calling at Haywards Heath, Gatwick and London Victoria.
Some will also call at intermediate stations including Hassocks, Burgess Hill and Wivelsfield. The same service will return southbound in the evening peak.
Although Haywards Heath is a strategically important commuter town with a 45 minute service up to London, its 1930s station, forecourt and associated land are in need of redevelopment.
Tim Barkley, Better Mid Sussex Planning Leader on the district council said: "We recognise the importance of sustainable travel, and the opportunities that the expansion of the Gatwick Express service offers to Haywards Heath and the other towns and villages of Mid Sussex.
"Throughout the development of the Haywards Heath masterplan, we have been working closely with Network Rail. This now gives us a further reason to revitalise the town to provide increased prosperity and improved lives for all."
The district council masterplan envisages extensive development on the station site to create an important cultural, commercial and residential quarter.
Brighton Line Commuters have welcomed the news that the new Gatwick Express service to Brighton will also serve Haywards Heath with some services stopping at Burgess Hill, Wivelsfield and Hassocks.
Lobby group spokesman Shelley Atlas said: "We don't have details of the timetable but it is obviously of benefit to us to get the extra seats as long as it doesn't impact on present train services."
The Gatwick Express franchise will transfer from National Express to Govia-owned Southern in May next year and the service changes will be implemented in December 2008.
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
