An investment of £150million investment has been announced by the Government for the upgrade of the railway station at Gatwick Airport. The upgrade includes doubling the size of the station concourse, widening two platforms, adding five new lifts and eight new escalators, according to a spokesman from the Department for Transport.

The improvements are intended to provide a solution to train delays caused by overcrowding and congestion on the platform, and provide easier connections across the south east. Works are expected to start in Spring 2020 and will take around two years to complete. They will be sequenced to ensure minimum disruption, the spokesman said.

“With 46 million people now using Gatwick Airport every year and 20 million coming by train, it is vital that we make the station more accessible and customer friendly for those travelling through it. The UK’s second largest airport has direct rail links to more than 120 destinations and is an important public transport hub,” Chris Grayling the transport secretary said.

“We want to see Gatwick Airport’s success continue to flourish and ensure that it is ready for even more passengers in the future. Through this £150 million investment, we will deliver vital upgrades to boost the station’s capacity and provide better, seamless journeys for all.”

The number of people using Gatwick Airport station each year has grown by six million since 2010, according to the spokesman, who said the station is niot currently designed for a high volume of daily passengers often carrying bulky luggage.

“Gatwick has been transformed in recent years and the redesigned train station will take the airport’s redevelopment to the next level by providing a seamless transition between the airport and the station, more lifts, escalators and a doubling in the size of the concourse,” commented Stewart Wingate, the Chief Executive Officer at Gatwick Airport.

“The new station will complement the huge improvements to rail services at the airport, which include new fleets of Gatwick Express and Thameslink trains and services that now leave the airport for London every three minutes – as frequently as services on the tube. The project is a fantastic example of the public and private sector working together to deliver a world-class transport hub that will comfortably manage the expected growth in air passengers and also encourage people to switch to rail as part of our push to get more people to travel to the airport by public transport,” he added.