Network Rail has recently submitted the planning application to Crawley Borough Council for the redevelopment of Gatwick Railway Station. Network Rail has issued a press release click here.

The anticipated timescale for the project is:

•Crawley Borough Council will determine the planning application in spring 2018

•Funding parties will make a final decision on the project in autumn 2018

•Construction begins in 2019

•Project completion in 2022

Aircraft Height Perception and Noise Study

GAL commissioned an independent study to look at the perception of aircraft height and noise following a recommendation from the 2015 Independent Arrivals Review. The study was carried out by Gianluca Memoli from the University of Sussex. The study report is now available on GAL's website click here to see.

'Gatwick Goes Wild'

GAL has announced a new week-long series of events to bring staff and nearby residents closer to the airport's local wildlife. The 'Gatwick Goes Wild' project has been jointly organised by both the airport and the Gatwick Greenspace Partnership, and will offer a programme of events for all ages to explore the wild spaces and nature found on the airport's doorstep. 'Gatwick Goes Wild' will run from Monday 28 May to Saturday 2 June. Spaces for each event will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and all children must be accompanied by an adult. To book a space on any of the sessions, please email: community@gatwickairport.com

'Learn Live'

GAL is launching a nationwide competition for secondary schools via its 'Learn Live' online portal, challenging students to develop an effective energy saving idea, which could be implemented at the airport. The aim of the competition is to encourage increased interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and will run in conjunction with the British Science Association's CREST Awards scheme. The CREST Awards scheme is the only nationally recognised accreditation scheme for STEM project work and encourages students to learn by solving a problem or answering a question, rather than simply following instructions or being presented with information.

Each school team that registers for the competition will also need to register separately for the CREST Bronze Award online and the first 20 teams that enter will have their registration fee for the Award paid for by the airport. There can be a maximum of one team from each school and 10 students in each team.  All entries will be displayed at the South East's Big Bang Fair on the 27 and 28 June, which GAL is the headline sponsor for, and the winning team will be invited for a behind the scenes tour of the airport in July. 

Trial of electric-powered autonomous vehicles airside vehicles

Gatwick's 300 airside vehicles are stationary 90% of the time - as staff attend to aircraft and passengers - however a trial of electric-powered autonomous vehicles which will shuttle workers between popular locations on the airfield will start later this summer. The trial is thought to be the first of its kind for any airport in the world and - if successful and scaled up - could lead to airfield transport needs being met from a much smaller pool of autonomous vehicles, reducing the need for such large vehicle fleets, reducing emissions and saving on costs. No passengers or aircraft will be involved in this trial, which will be limited to airside roads between the airport's North and South terminals.

The trial will be run in partnership with Oxbotica - a company that develops software that enables vehicles to run autonomously without reliance on GPS or any other technology outside the vehicle. Oxbotica vehicles are also currently involved in other trials on UK roads and are currently developing a fleet of autonomous vehicles that will soon be running between Oxford and London.