Engineering works affecting Brighton Main Line train services
Network Rail's carrying out works over the next two weekends
Rail services on the Brighton Main Line face major disruption this weekend (Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th February) as a large engineering project gets underway.
Teams are carrying out vital repairs to tracks, signalling and power supplies in tunnels, including ones at Balcombe, Patcham, Haywards Heath and Lewes.
Further works are planned next weekend (Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd February).
What will it mean for services?
A reduced Southern service will be running to and from Victoria all day today (Saturday 15th February).
Many Southern trains will instead divert to run to or from London Bridge, with trains towards London Victoria not calling at Battersea Park.
Tomorrow (Sunday 16th February), no trains will run between East Croydon and London Victoria.
Rail replacement bus services will run between East Croydon and Clapham Junction.
Thameslink and Southern services to Gatwick Airport from London Bridge will continue to run, but no Gatwick Express train services will run.
On Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd February, buses will replace trains between Three Bridges, Brighton and Lewes.
Passengers are advised to take a direct train between London Victoria and Brighton, running via Horsham and Littlehampton.
Tim Leighton, Network Rail’s operations director for the Sussex route, said:
“We know closing the railway at any time of the year causes inconvenience for passengers, but with the Brighton Main Line being a key route for the leisure and tourism industry on the south coast, we only work in the summer months when we have no alternative.
"That means that every winter we have a series of vital maintenance closures on sections of the Brighton Main Line. We had a closure in the Gatwick area last month which allowed us to complete hundreds of vital maintenance activities to give passengers safer and more reliable journeys.
“Similarly, we will make the most of these upcoming closures at the northern and southern end of the line to ensure track, power supplies, signalling and structures are safe and reliable for our passengers.”
Jenny Saunders, customer service director for Southern and Gatwick Express, said:
“These closures will impact a lot of people over two weekends this February, and I’d like to apologise for any disruption they might cause.
“The work, by Network Rail, is essential and will keep our services running punctually and reliably.
“While we will have buses, these will be very busy, so we’re encouraging people to beat the queues and take diverted train services wherever possible.
“Please plan ahead, using a journey planner like the Southern website, and check for updates before setting off for the station.”
Further work to come
There'll also be some disruption for passengers over the last weekend in March too (Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th).
Buses will replace trains between Three Bridges, Brighton and Lewes as Network Rail replaces track at Haywards Heath and rail on the Ouse Valley viaduct.
It will also undertake brickwork repairs and inspections on the Balcombe, Patcham, Haywards Heath and Lewes tunnels as well as other maintenance activities.
The Brighton Main Line is among the most complex and congested routes in the country, with the infrastructure on the line also being some of the oldest and most intensively used.
This means that without significant investment, performance and journey times will be constrained.
This work is part of a £900 million Sussex Railway Upgrades investment programme to 2029 to modernise track, signalling, stations, structures and earthworks.