By Sammie Jones-
A Kylie Minogue headline for a festival in August has led to Govia Thameslink extending their services to accommodate festival goers and avoid frustrations caused by queues and a lack of seating on the escape back to the big city, as it’s extending late night services to ferry coastal partiers home at the end of a night.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) runs Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services out of Brighton. They confirmed plans to extend their services to improve capacity throughout the August weekend after the main Pride in the Park event finishes on Saturday evening when additional services will run late into the night.
Auzzie star, Minogue is headlining the Brighton and Hove Pride festival on the first weekend of August after a feature at the Hamston Court Place tomorrow. Revellers were stranded in 2018 after chaotic scenes at Brighton stations, something rail bosses are determined to avoid this summer as one of the most prominent music idols shines to the pleasure of her adoring fans. Existing services are to be extended to aid the journey of joyous fans who will be in festive spirits on their way home.
Thameslink said: “We have additional trains late into the night from Brighton which will provide capacity for 10,000 extra passengers into London after 22:30. All our London trains except one will be full-length, 12-carriage services (normally many are eight-to-10 carriages long).Angie Doll, passenger services director for Southern and Gatwick Express, said: “We are really proud to play our part in making sure travellers can get to and from this year’s Pride, which promises to be another dazzling celebration of inclusivity
“This year, we are really pleased to have supported the organisers and partner agencies in an enhanced queuing system which will really help get people safely away from the event towards the train station. We are providing extra services but as you would expect for such a popular event, it will be very busy, so I would ask everyone coming to the event to plan ahead and allow plenty of time to get home.”