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Major works to Brighton main railway line in February
Posted on behalf of: Transport Office
Last updated: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
From Saturday 19 February to Sunday 27 February 2022 Network Rail engineers will renew a major junction near Haywards Heath, replace track at Burgess Hill and build a new underpass providing safe access under the railway at Hassocks.
During the work, there will be no trains at the following stations and rail replacement buses will run instead: Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Preston Park, Plumpton, Cooksbridge. An amended service will run across the wider Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern network.
- Buses will run between Three Bridges, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Preston Park and Brighton; between Three Bridges, Haywards Heath, Cooksbridge and Lewes; between Haywards Heath and Plumpton; and between Plumpton and Lewes.
- On weekdays, additional buses will run between Lewes, Cooksbridge and East Grinstead, between Hassocks and Three Bridges at peak times, between Preston Park, Haywards Heath and Three Bridges at peak times, and between Seaford and Uckfield at peak times.
- Most main line services will start and terminate at Three Bridges where a large bus interchange with passenger facilities will be set up in the car park.
- A Brighton to London Victoria train service will run via the Arun Valley calling at Hove, Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing, Angmering, Littlehampton, Horsham, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and Clapham Junction.
- Other train services will be amended to support the overall service plan.
Individual journeys can be seen now in journey planners such as www.nationalrail.co.uk. Given the ongoing effects of Covid-19 and the Omicron variant on staff availability, we are advising passengers to plan and to check again nearer the time before travelling.
Ticket acceptance
- Ticket acceptance is also in place for valid paper rail tickets on the following routes:
- Metrobus services in the Crawley - Gatwick Airport – Redhill areas and
- Brighton & Hove Buses via any reasonable route within the Brighton & Hove city boundary and between Brighton - Seaford - Eastbourne on services 12, 12A and 12X and between Brighton – Lewes - Uckfield on services 28 and 29
- Passengers travelling to or from stations on the East Coastway to central London may also use SouthEastern train services from Hastings via Tunbridge Wells.
Weekend works
There will be three weekends where associated work for this project will also close the line. These are:
- Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 February 2022
- Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 March 2022
- Sunday 3 April 2022
Further information
Passengers can find updates about the work and alternative service on our websites Southern and Thameslink.