Heathrow Airport’s passport control already offers a notorious welcome to Britain, but Gatwick is now offering hot competition. Gatwick Express, the rail artery connecting the airport to London, installed new ticket gates at the airport a few months ago ending the old system where you could buy a ticket on the train. But they failed to install enough ticket machines to cope with the summer demand, leading to absolute bedlam which I’ve just witnessed. The staff are mortified, and can only apologise to the Greeks and Spanish visitors who arrive here appalled at the kind of scenes that would disgrace any country – far less the fourth richest in the world.
Screaming children, exhausted passengers, baffled visitors (‘I don’t understand, you have the Olympics…’ said one Italian to a guard). The Brits are just as angry, I saw one writing a letter of complaint (below) – not that it will do much good.
And the worst of it is that this disgraceful shambles is the result of Gatwick Express spending more money, not skimping.
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