Brighton Main Line to Close Over Three Weekends for Essential Upgrades
Network Rail will be carrying out crucial improvements on the Brighton Main Line between Brighton, Gatwick Airport, and East Croydon over three weekends in January, with passengers urged to plan their journeys in advance.
Engineering work is scheduled for selected weekends between 10 January and 10 May 2026. During these periods, trains will be replaced by buses between Gatwick Airport and Purley / East Croydon, as well as on the branch lines linking Reigate and Redhill, and Redhill to Tonbridge.
The first three weekends of closures are:
Saturday and Sunday 10/11 January 2026
Saturday and Sunday 17/18 January 2026
Saturday and Sunday 24/25 January 2026
Further work is planned for Sunday 1 February, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March, and Sunday 10 May 2026. On these dates, the Brighton Main Line will be closed between Brighton, Lewes, Hove, and Three Bridges.
Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail Sussex route director, said:
“The busy Brighton main line is among the most complex and congested routes in the country, with the infrastructure being some of the oldest and most intensively used. Because of this, we need to carry out this work to try to prevent delays to passenger journeys. We know that closing the railway at any time of the year causes inconvenience, but with the Brighton main line being a key route for the leisure and tourism industry on the south coast, we are using this typically quieter time on the railway to carry out these vital works, in an attempt to avoid having to close the railway during busier times of the year. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding while our teams work hard to improve the infrastructure on this critical stretch of railway.”
Jenny Saunders, Customer Service Director for Southern and Thameslink, added:
"The main line between Gatwick and East Croydon is one of the busiest in the country. It's a vital link for hundreds of thousands of commuters and leisure travellers visiting London, Gatwick and the south coast. Over the next three weekends, engineers will be hard at work ensuring our Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services on this line will be safe and reliable for years to come. This does mean that there will be some disruption to journeys, and your trip is likely to involve a bus. We'll have staff on hand at our stations to keep you on the move, and my advice is to check your journey online before you leave using a journey planner."
Image: Network Rail