Major Rail Disruption Planned for Gatwick Airport Route Over Three Weekends

Train services on the Brighton Main Line between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport will face complete closure across three separate weekends this month, rail operators have announced.
The closures will take place from 10–11 January, 17–18 January, and 24–25 January, affecting all railway lines in the area between East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Redhill, and parts of Surrey and Sussex.
Passengers travelling between London and the airport have been warned to expect significantly longer journey times, with operators urging travellers to allow extra time to reach Gatwick during the affected periods.
Replacement Services
According to the arrangements, passengers heading to Gatwick Airport from London will need to take trains to East Grinstead before transferring to rail-replacement buses for the final leg of their journey.
Those travelling between London and the south coast will face a more complex route. Trains will run to East Grinstead, followed by replacement buses to Three Bridges, where onward services will be available to Brighton, Horsham, Littlehampton, Ore, and Portsmouth.
Additional bus services will operate through Surrey, with provisions made for passengers using Redhill and Reigate, as well as for journeys between Redhill and Tonbridge.
Southern will maintain direct train services between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport via an alternative route, though journey times will be longer than usual.
Weekend Variations
On the affected Saturdays, trains will continue to operate on both the Caterham and Tattenham Corner branch lines. However, Sunday arrangements differ, with replacement buses serving the Tattenham Corner line and local bus services accepting rail tickets on the Caterham line.
Infrastructure Upgrades
The engineering works form part of a broader Network Rail programme to upgrade railway infrastructure on the East Croydon to Gatwick Airport section. Network Rail is conducting the major upgrades over several weekends to improve reliability on the busy corridor while concentrating disruption into planned closures rather than risking unplanned failures.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​