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Monday 6 Oct 2014

PICTURES: Crucial railway junction replaced over weekend

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail engineers have successfully replaced a crucial railway junction in Sussex over the first of four weekends of improvement work to the railway between London and Brighton.

Keymer Junction, near Wivelsfield, is where lines from Eastbourne and Lewes meet those running from Brighton to London. It’s the first time it has been renewed in almost 40 years and will provide more reliable journeys and a more comfortable ride for the growing number of passengers on the line.
It’s the first full weekend of four where major work is taking place on the route and buses are replacing trains between Three Bridges and Brighton / Lewes.
Steve Knight, area director for Network Rail, said: “Replacing an entire junction is a big job in itself, but it is just part of the work we are doing on the Brighton Main Line this autumn.
“We are also improving drainage through a tunnel, replacing another junction near Haywards Heath, and we are improving signalling near Balcombe. All of these upgrades will mean a better, more reliable railway.
“The scale of the work means we have had to use buses to replace trains and Southern and Thameslink staff have been doing a great job of helping people travel between London and Brighton while we are doing the work.”
Work will continue to take place on the main line on the weekends of October 11, 12; October 18, 19 and November 15 and 16.