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Monday 29 Feb 2016

Easter improvement work means changes to trains to and from Sussex and Gatwick Airport

Region & Route:

| Southern

London’s second-busiest station will be much quieter this Easter break as Network Rail improvement work means no trains will run from Victoria to Sussex and Gatwick Airport.

The work, to rebuild a critical junction at Battersea Park, will mean no Gatwick Express or Southern trains will run from Victoria. Instead, Southern and Thameslink services will link the capital to the coast and Gatwick Airport from London Bridge and London Blackfriars.

Southeastern services from the station will run as normal, subject to improvement work further afield in Kent.

Network Rail’s area director for Sussex, Steve Knight, said: “Passengers will still have a good service to London this Easter but there will be a different timetable in operation and trains will arrive at different stations in London.

“For that reason I’m urging people to check before they travel so they don’t get caught out. The work we are doing to replace the junction at Battersea Park is part of our continual improvement of the railway in the south east, and will put more reliable and robust equipment in place. It follows major investment work at Purley this Christmas and in previous months at Haywards Heath and Gatwick Airport.”

In West Sussex, work to replace timbers on a railway bridge over the River Arun will mean buses will replace trains on the Horsham line to Arundel – adding roughly an hour to journey times on that route.

Gatwick Express Passenger Services Director, Angie Doll said: “The engineering work around Battersea means that Victoria station won’t be available to us over the Easter break, so there will be no Gatwick Express services and a much reduced service on the Brighton Main Line.

“However, there will be plenty of alternative services that passengers can use to and from London Bridge and Blackfriars, and buses will run between Victoria and Clapham Junction, so we’ll be able to get people where they need to go.

“Work on the Arun Valley means that a replacement bus service will be in place on the Horsham line to Arundel, and journey times are likely to be extended by up to 60 minutes.”

For more information passengers should check www.nationalrail.co.uk/easter or www.southernrailway.com/easter2016

NOTES TO EDITORS                                                                                                 

Other Network Rail projects taking place in the South East this Easter include Thameslink Programme work at Cannon Street, a new signalling scheme around the Medway Towns, and Crossrail work to build a new station at Abbey Wood.

As a result there will be no Southeastern trains to Cannon Street or London Bridge and the signalling work means there will be a bus replacement between Sittingbourne, Longfield and Sheerness in Kent. Trains to Charing Cross through London Bridge will be unaffected.

Crossrail’s work to build new platforms and a new station at Abbey Wood means there will be a bus replacement between Plumstead and Slade Green.

There are also some smaller projects taking place at points over the Easter weekend and passengers are advised to check each journey at www.nationalrail.co.uk.