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Monday 9 Mar 2026

Railway open for business this Easter, but passengers are advised to check before they travel in parts of Sussex and South London

Region & Route:

Southern

| Southern: Sussex

While most trains will operate as normal over the Easter weekend, essential engineering work will take place in Sussex and in south London. 

Passengers are urged to plan ahead this Easter as essential engineering work takes place across Sussex and South London. 

From Friday 3 to Monday 6 April, Network Rail engineers will be working tirelessly to renew outdated switches and crossings (the moveable sections of track that guide trains from one line to another), refurbish key assets and undertake critical earthworks to prevent landslips on the Sussex network. 

As a result, services between Eastbourne and Hastings/Ore, and Eastbourne and Ashford International will be impacted over the Easter weekend. 

On Easter Sunday, Southern services between London Victoria and Portsmouth Harbour, Brighton and Southampton Central, and Littlehampton and Bognor Regis will also be affected.  

The critical works across the region include: 

• Soil nailing at Stone Cross cutting to reduce the potential for landslips. Soil nailing is a ground engineering technique where high strength steel bars are drilled into the soil to stabilise steep slopes and embankments. 

• Refurbishing switches and crossings at Bognor, the crucial pieces of kit that enable trains to change track. 

• Works on the footbridge at Ivy Lane and installing a new footbridge at Birch foot crossing near Bognor Regis 

• Reinstalling the footbridge at Hampden Park station following refurbishment works conducted offsite since early February. 

• Refurbishment of switches and crossings between Tulse Hill, Sutton and Wimbledon. 

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Sussex Route Director, said: “I would like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out these important upgrades over the Easter period. 

“There is never a suitable time to close the railway, but we have chosen to complete this work over the Easter weekend, when passenger numbers are typically lower, to help minimise disruption. 

“These works are vital to maintaining the network so trains can run safely and efficiently, helping to reduce delays and improve reliability. 

“I encourage anyone intending to travel by train over Easter to please plan ahead and check their journey with their train operator.” 

Jenny Saunders, Southern’s Customer Service Director, said: “We really appreciate our customers’ patience while Network Rail carries out these improvement programmes, and we are sorry for the inconvenience and additional journey time some passengers will experience. We are working closely with Network Rail to plan this work for when it is least disruptive, and the result will mean more reliable journeys for everyone. 

“We’re advising people to check journey planners in advance.”