Weekend railway closures hit Brighton Mainline for third week

Weekend railway closures will return across parts of Sussex, Surrey and Kent as Network Rail carries out another round of engineering work on the Brighton Mainline for the third weekend in a row, as set out in a Network Rail Media Centre update.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Brighton Mainline closures and replacement buses

The work is due to take place between Brighton, Gatwick Airport and East Croydon on Saturday and Sunday. With trains unable to run on affected sections, buses will replace trains for those journeys.

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On the Brighton Mainline, rail replacement buses will operate between Gatwick Airport and both Purley and East Croydon. Buses are also planned on the branch lines between Reigate and Redhill, and between Redhill and Tonbridge, as reflected in the National Rail engineering works notice.

Network Rail engineering work: what’s being done

This is the third weekend in a row with closures, following disruption on 10–11 January and 17–18 January. Network Rail says the programme covers tasks including installing new rails, refurbishing switches and crossings, and repairing drainage systems.

More dates listed for planned closures

Further engineering works are scheduled for 1 February, 21–22 March and 3 May. On those weekends, the Brighton Mainline is due to be closed between Brighton, Lewes and Hove, and Three Bridges, according to Network Rail’s Sussex railway upgrade plan.

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Sussex route director, said the Brighton Mainline is “among the most complex and congested routes in the country”, and that its infrastructure is some of the oldest and most intensively used. She said the work is needed to try to prevent delays to passenger journeys.

More weekend railway closures are also expected in the latter half of 2026 after the summer.

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