Due to engineering work there will be changes to trains operating on the Brighton Main Line between Gatwick Airport / Reigate / Redhill and East Croydon this coming weekend, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 January.
What work is happening?
Network Rail 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 lines between Gatwick Airport and Purley, providing smoother and more reliable journeys.
This means no through trains are able to run on the Brighton Main Line between Gatwick Airport and Purley / East Croydon.
Impacts to train services and customer advice
Customers travelling between central London and Gatwick are advised to use a special diverted Southern service of two trains per hour between London Victoria and the airport that will run via Horsham and Three Bridges. The end-to-end journey will take around 80 minutes.
Alternatively, customers can travel by train from London Bridge to East Grinstead – where there will be an enhanced service - and then pick up a replacement bus that will run to and from Gatwick Airport. It is important to note that Oyster and contactless will not be valid on the alternative route to/from Gatwick Airport via East Grinstead. Customers will instead be encouraged to purchase an e-ticket or a paper ticket if using that route option.
Trains towards London from Brighton, Littlehampton or Eastbourne will terminate at Three Bridges. Customers travelling between Brighton or the Sussex coast and London are advised to travel by train to Three Bridges and use either a replacement bus service from there to East Grinstead, then connect with trains to or from London, or change on to the diverted but direct London train that will run via Horsham (as referred to above).
Those using the Arun Valley line from Bognor Regis or Portsmouth should change at Horsham onto the diverted London service.
For those travelling to and from intermediate stations between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon, very limited replacement bus services will operate between Gatwick Airport and Redhill, between Reigate and Redhill, between Redhill and Tonbridge and between Redhill and East Croydon.
Buses will also replace trains on the route between Dorking and Horsham (on Saturday only).
All journeys will take longer and so customers should allow extra time and plan their journeys at nationalrail.co.uk
Summary of services
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 minutes
- 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
Rail replacement buses will run 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)
Thameslink
- No trains will run between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport. Therefore, there will be no through Thameslink services from London to the airport
- A limited service will run between Brighton and Three Bridges, and between Horsham and Gatwick Airport