Not only Thamelink but also the non stop East Midland Trains route from Parkway to St Pancras is also shown as a separate route in light blue.
The appearances on the map are only temporary due to Covid. Also worth remembering that unlike Gatwick the Oyster card can’t be used at Parkway so an additional ticket would need purchasing for rail travel into and out of London. Also no deal has yet been reached with the airport over the Dart link so a separate ticket could be needed for that part of the journey as well. At the moment Thamelink are charged a fee for the shuttle bus using the airports bus station. Now it looks like the airport could be charged a fee by Thamelink for issuing a through ticket. That is assuming a deal can be reached.
Finally the game changer should be when Crossrail opens in 2022 but then the improved connectivity will also apply to other London Airports. The journey time from Farringdon for Luton and Gatwick to Liverpool Street for Stansted and Southend is cut to just 2 minutes.
Last edited by LTNman; 2nd Jan 2021 at 15:45.