Brighton Main Line passengers reminded to check before they travel as engineers carry out vital reliability upgrades on the track between London and the south coast

Over the weekend of Saturday 20 and Sunday, January 21, Network Rail engineers will be renewing 1,500m of track, as well as sleepers, ballast (the stones that support the track) and refurbishing three sets of points – the mechanism used to switch trains between tracks – on the Brighton Main Line between Gatwick Airport and Purley, providing smoother and more reliable journeys for the 17 million passengers who travel on the Brighton Main Line every year.

The work will mean a long diversion for trains between London and Gatwick Airport, and a limited service between the Sussex coast and Three Bridges. Journeys will take considerably longer than normal, so anyone planning to use the train to catch a flight from Gatwick should allow plenty of additional time.

There will be no through trains on the main line between London and Gatwick.

People travelling between London and Gatwick are advised to use a special diverted service of two trains per hour between London Victoria and the airport via Horsham. The journey will take around 80 minutes. Alternatively, passengers can travel by train from London Bridge to East Grinstead and use a special replacement bus service running to and from Gatwick Airport.

Only two trains per hour will run between Three Bridges and Brighton, and services towards London from Littlehampton and Eastbourne will terminate at Three Bridges.

Passengers are advised to travel via Three Bridges and use either the replacement bus service to East Grinstead, to connect with trains to London, or the diverted London train via Horsham.

For those who have to travel to or from intermediate stations between Gatwick and East Croydon, very limited replacement bus services will operate.

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Sussex route director, said: “We’re really pleased to see further investment being made in improving the reliability of the Brighton Main Line, a key commuter route that needs constant work to keeping it running.

“Over the weekend of the 20 and 21 January, we’ll be taking all lines out of use between Gatwick and Purley to tackle a host of maintenance work, including renewing track at a major railway junction near Coulsdon.

“We understand it’s frustrating for passengers in the short term when we divert trains, but this is a rare chance for us to undertake major work on such a busy section of track that will help us run a more reliable railway in the long term.

“I really appreciate everyone’s patience and urge passengers using Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services to plan ahead and check before they travel over the weekend.”

Jenny Saunders, customer services director for Southern and Thameslink, said: “We’re sorry for the inconvenience to passengers during Network Rail’s essential maintenance to keep this busy part of the network in good shape.

“While we’ve arranged alternatives to help our customers get where they need to be, several routes are affected and many journeys will take considerably longer than normal, so please check your routes and times on a journey planner, or the Southern or Thameslink website, well ahead of your journey, and allow plenty of extra time.”

Train service overview

Gatwick Express

No Gatwick Express services will run.

Southern

No trains will run between Purley and Gatwick Airport or Reigate.

A direct service will run between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport via Horsham, calling at Clapham Junction, Horsham and Three Bridges. Journeys between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport will take around 80 minutes instead of the usual 30-40.

A reduced number of trains will run between London Victoria and East Croydon.

Trains that usually run between Littlehampton and London, and between Eastbourne / Hastings / Ore and London, will start/terminate at Three Bridges.

No trains will run between Redhill and Tonbridge.

Additional trains will run between London Bridge and East Grinstead.

Passengers using the Arun Valley line from Bognor Regis or Portsmouth should change at Horsham onto the diverted London service.

Thameslink

No trains will run between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport. Therefore, there will be no through services from London to the airport.

A limited service will run between Brighton and Three Bridges, and between Horsham and Gatwick Airport.

Buses will replace trains between:

East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport

East Grinstead and Three Bridges

Gatwick Airport and Redhill

Redhill and Tonbridge

Redhill and Reigate

Redhill and East Croydon

Dorking and Horsham (Saturday only)

Passengers planning to use replacement buses are advised that because of a national shortage of bus drivers, they should check before they travel and may experience delays.