Media centre

Friday 3 May 2019

Sussex and south London rail passengers reminded to check before they travel this May bank holiday

Region & Route:

Southern

• Thousands of Network Rail staff will work around the clock to deliver a multi-million-pound programme of work
• Most of the railway in Sussex and south London remains open over the bank holiday weekend (4 – 6) but some routes will be affected

Passengers are advised to plan ahead and check before travelling this May bank holiday weekend as Network Rail carries out a major programme of engineering work to deliver more reliable infrastructure, improved facilities and better services for passengers in Sussex and south London.

The majority of services will run as normal over the weekend but there will be changes on some routes.

John Halsall, route managing director at Network Rail south east, said: “This May bank holiday, we’ll be working across the network to improve journeys for passengers.

“There is never a good time to close the railway, but we know that it’s up to 50 per cent quieter than usual over bank holidays, which reduces the impact of our work on passengers.

“I’d like to thank people in advance for their patience and remind them to check before they travel this weekend.”

Keith Jipps, GTR Infrastructure Director, added: "This essential work will alter some of the services on our network. Passengers should check before they travel, on any of our websites for Thameslink, Southern, Gatwick Express or Great Northern, or at nationalrail.co.uk where they will also be able to plan their journeys."

Sussex and south London upgrade work includes:

From Saturday 4 May to Monday 6 May:

• An amended Thameslink service will be in operation due to engineering work at London St Pancras International.
• Southern trains will also not run between Shepherds Bush and Milton Keynes Central. Customers should use alternative Southern, London Underground and London Northwestern Railway services on any reasonable route to complete your journey.
• Southern trains will be replaced by buses between Portsmouth Harbour and Chichester

On Saturday and Sunday 4 & 5 May:

• On Southern, buses will replace trains between Lewes and Seaford.

On Sunday 5 May:

• No trains between South Croydon and East Grinstead / Uckfield
• Work is taking place until 09:30 between Three Bridges and Brighton, closing all lines. Replacement buses will run between Three Bridges / Haywards Heath and Brighton. Some Southern train services to/from London Victoria will operate but will be diverted between Haywards Heath and Brighton via Lewes with extended journey times.

A breakdown of how some journeys will be affected can be found by visiting nationalrail.co.uk/May and following #MayBHworks on Twitter.

Other engineering work may be taking place across the Southern and Thameslink network and customers should check online for details.