Brighton Main Line to shut for nine days: railway from Three Bridges to Lewes affected from February 19

The closure is part of a major £15 million upgrade that aims to tackle delays.

The railway between Three Bridges, Brighton and Lewes will close from Saturday (February 19) to Sunday (February 27) as engineers work around the clock to rebuild Copyhold Junction near Haywards Heath, lay new track and shore up embankments to reduce the risk of landslips.

During the closure, engineers will replace more than 1,500 metres of track in renewals at Copyhold Junction, Burgess Hill, Preston Park and in the 1841-built Clayton Tunnel.

The lines between Three Bridges and Brighton/Lewes will also close on the weekends of February 12-13, March 5-6 and April 3 to prepare for and follow up the works.

“The Brighton Main Line is one of the UK’s busiest routes and the rail infrastructure is among the oldest and most intensively used,” said Katie Frost, Network Rail’s Sussex route director.

“These works are absolutely vital to improving performance so we can give passengers a more reliable train service.”

She said that carrying out the work in a longer nine-day closure means that more can be done quickly, avoiding 20 separate weekend, evening and bank holiday closures.

“We are working hand-in-hand with our colleagues at Govia Thameslink Railway to make sure people who do need to travel when the line is closed can still go where they need to,” said Katie.

Southern and Thameslink will operate alternative train and bus services and passengers are warned that journeys will take longer than normal.

No trains will run between Three Bridges and Brighton or Lewes, and main line services will start and terminate at Three Bridges, where there will be a temporary bus hub with toilets and a refreshment stand.

This will be served by up to 54 replacement buses per hour at peak times, running on routes across the closed sections of line.

Two trains per hour will run between London Victoria and Brighton via Gatwick Airport, Horsham and Littlehampton but these journeys will take significantly longer.

“We’ve been working closely with Network Rail to make sure our customers can get where they need to be while these vital infrastructure improvements are carried out,” said Chris Fowler, Southern’s customer services director.

He said these train and bus services are now in the online National Rail Enquiries journey planner at www.nationalrail.co.uk and advised passengers to plan their journey now, and re-check closer to the time.

Train and bus service details for February 19-26

Brighton to Victoria trains will run via Littlehampton and Horsham (calling at Hove, Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing, Angmering, Littlehampton, Horsham, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and Clapham Junction).

The Brighton to Hove shuttle will not run (the Brighton to London Victoria via Littlehampton service will replace this).

The Brighton to Lewes service will not run, but the Ore to London Victoria service will start/terminate at Brighton instead, calling additionally at Falmer, Moulsecoomb and London Road to maintain frequencies at these stations.

The London Victoria to Southampton/Bognor Regis service will divide at Barnham, and make additional calls at Billingshurst, Pulborough and Arundel.

The London Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour/Bognor Regis service will divide at Barnham, and make additional calls at Christ’s Hospital, Billingshurst, Pulborough, Amberley, Arundel and Ford.

East Grinstead services will run as planned.

For West Coastway stations, a Brighton to Bognor Regis service will call at all stations, with some revised times.

Buses will run in both directions on these routes:

Three Bridges – Balcombe – Haywards Heath – Wivelsfield – Burgess Hill – Hassocks – Preston Park – Brighton (some buses are planned to run non-stop between Three Bridges and Brighton but capacity will be limited).

Three Bridges – Haywards Heath – Cooksbridge ­– Lewes.

Haywards Heath – Plumpton.

Plumpton – Lewes.

On weekdays (February 21-25), additional bus services will run between:

Lewes – Cooksbridge and East Grinstead, for onwards train connections to/from London.

Hassocks and Three Bridges direct (peak times only).

Preston Park – Haywards Heath and Three Bridges (peak times only).

Seaford and Uckfield direct, for onward train connections to East Croydon (peak times only).

Train tickets will be accepted on local Metro buses, and on Southeastern train services between Hastings and London via Tonbridge.

This closure will also see the construction of a new underpass at Hassocks, to replace Woodside level crossing.

The work is all part of the wider Sussex Upgrade programme, which is investing more than £750 million from 2019 to 2024 to improve the railway for passengers.

Other work includes: rebuilding a collapsed culvert in the Balcombe tunnel to prevent water build-up; installing fibre optic cable between Three Bridges and Brighton to enable 5G connectivity along the route; embankment and cutting stabilisation at Balcombe, Lewes, Haywards Heath and Hassocks to reduce the risk of landslips; Clayton tunnel maintenance including brickwork repairs; tree planting and biodiversity improvements at Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, including a dormice bridge at Balcombe; and refurbishment of Spatham Lane level crossing near Cooksbridge.

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