01.08.18
Gatwick Express ad claim of trains to Victoria in 30 minutes ruled as ‘misleading’
An advert claim by Gatwick Express that its services can reach London Victoria in 30 minutes has been ruled as misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
A poster and website advert titled “Glide out of Gatwick” with smaller text stating that services run from London Gatwick Airport non-stop to Victoria in half an hour was found to be not factually correct by the advertising regulator.
Analysis from the ASA found that whilst almost 80% of the planned Gatwick Express train services arrived at London Victoria on time between 30 April 2017 and 26 May 2018, the remaining one-in-five of services were delayed, largely due to reasons “such as staff sickness and technical/signalling faults.”
An ASA statement said: “Whilst we acknowledged that a proportion of services were delayed due to exceptional or unforeseeable circumstances outside of Gatwick Express' control – such as track faults, fatalities and power supply failures – we considered that a significant proportion of services were delayed for reasons that were within Gatwick Express' control.
“As such, we concluded that the claims ‘Non-stop to Victoria station in half an hour’ and ‘in just 30 minutes’ had not been substantiated and were misleading.”
Gatwick Express have noted that a third of services being delayed were out of control of the operator.
A spokesman for Gatwick Express said: "Just a third of Gatwick Express delay minutes were within our control. However, we began withdrawing these adverts many months ago and we acknowledge the ASA ruling."
Gatwick Express is operated by GTR who also run Thameslink, Greater Northern, and Southern Rail lines.
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