On Sunday 24 and Monday 25 August, Lewisham station will be closed so that work to install new signalling equipment buildings can take place place as part of the £90m Lewisham re-signalling scheme at Parks Bridge junction, which is replacing old 1970s signalling equipment with modern and more reliable signalling technology. The Bexleyheath line will also be closed on both days, with rail replacement buses in operation.
The line between Three Bridges and Horsham will be closed all day on Sunday 24 August, so that level crossing resurfacing work can take place at Roffey Road in Horsham. Buses will replace trains between Three Bridges and Horsham, and trains will run between Horsham and Bognor Regis.
Work will continue on the Redhill to Tonbridge line over the long weekend, ahead of its reopening on Tuesday 26 August following a ten-day closure, with buses continuing to replace trains along the whole route.
Network Rail is currently working to replace 13 miles of high voltage power cables between Nutfield and Leigh, protecting the track from landslips, replacing worn-out rails near Edenbridge and undertaking maintenance works to improve the resilience of railway structures and equipment.
Near Edenbridge, where landslips have caused significant disruption to rail services in recent years, the railway embankment will be strengthened with a 360-metre-long steel wall either side of the track. The wall will be further strengthened with 226 soil nails, each 9-metres-long and driven into the ground.
Elsewhere along the line, 11 bridges will undergo detailed structural inspections and 200 metres of rail will be replaced at Godstone.
David Davidson, chief operating officer for the South Eastern Railway, said:
"The vast majority of the rail network in Kent and Sussex remains open for business over the August bank holiday, but with vital upgrade work necessary at a few locations on the network, our message to customers in south east London and parts of west Kent and East Sussex is to please check before you travel as your journey may take longer.”
Travel information
Three Bridges to Horsham
Southern:
- Buses will replace trains between Three Bridges and Horsham.
- Trains will run between Horsham and Bognor Regis.
- Trains between London Victoria and Portsmouth Harbour will run to an amended timetable with extended journey times, and will be diverted via Hove. These trains will be joined to, and form part of Littlehampton trains between London Victoria and Worthing.
Littlehampton / Portsmouth Harbour and Ore route trains will both call additionally at Three Bridges to provide bus connections.
Journey times will be increased when using replacement buses.
Thameslink:
All day on Sunday, no Thameslink trains will run between Three Bridges and Horsham.
Redhill to Tonbridge
Southern:
Customers can use their tickets at no extra cost on Southern replacement buses to complete their journey.
Until 05:00 on Tuesday 26 August, buses will replace trains between Redhill and Tonbridge.
At Edenbridge, that the bus stops are at Main Road/Swan Lane. The bus stop at the Swan Pub will be for buses towards Redhill, and the opposite side of the road will be for buses towards Tonbridge.
Ticket acceptance:
Tickets for journeys to/from stations on the Redhill and Tonbridge line will be accepted on:
- Southern services between Edenbridge Town and East Croydon
- Southern and Thameslink services between East Grinstead and East Croydon
- Southern and Thameslink services between Redhill and East Croydon / London Bridge
Tickets from stations between Redhill and Tonbridge to / from London will also be accepted on:
- Southeastern services between Tonbridge and London Bridge / Waterloo East / London Charing Cross
Bexleyheath line
Southeastern
Sunday:
- Trains between London Victoria and Dartford will not run. Services between London Cannon Street and Slade Green via Bexleyheath will be diverted to run via Sidcup and will not stop at Lewisham.
Monday:
- Trains between London Victoria and Gravesend will not run.
- Trains between London Charing Cross and Dartford via Bexleyheath will not run.
- Services between London Cannon Street and Slade Green via Bexleyheath will be diverted to run via Sidcup and will not stop at Lewisham.
- Hayes Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Hayes will not stop at Lewisham
- Sidcup Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Dartford via Sidcup will not stop at Lewisham
- Grove Park Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Sevenoaks will not call at Lewisham
Accessible replacement buses will run between:
- New Cross and Dartford via Bexleyheath calling at all stations
Alternative travel options:
Customers can use the following alternative services at no extra cost:
- Docklands Light Railway between Lewisham and Greenwich
- London Buses routes:
- P12 and 78 between Peckham Rye and Nunhead
- 484 between Denmark Hill and Lewisham
- 21, 225 and 273 between Hither Green, Lewisham and New Cross
- P4, 284 and 122 between Lewisham and Ladywell
- London Underground between Victoria, Charing Cross, Embankment, Cannon Street, Waterloo, Southwark, and London Bridge
The following stations will be closed all day and will only be served by accessible buses:
- Lewisham
- Blackheath
- Kidbrooke
- Eltham
- Falconwood
- Welling
- Bexleyheath
- Barnehurst
