Brighton Main Line welcomes passengers back after £67 million investment over 9 days

Sussex passengers are seeing the benefits today as Network Rail handed the railway back on time following a 9-day closure for vital engineering work that will make their train service more reliable.

More than 250 engineers worked around the clock at 26 sites to complete the biggest upgrade of the railway between Brighton and Three Bridges in more than 30 years. Over the extended closure, they have carried out the lion’s share of the £67 million improvement programme to this stretch of railway. 

They have improved track, signalling and drainage on the route, which is one of the busiest on the network, carrying 300,000 passengers on a normal weekday, but has also been one of the least reliable on the network.

Thousands of Southern and Thameslink passengers who rely on the Brighton Main Line each day returned this morning to brighter and cleaner stations as Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) took advantage of the closure to carry out a series of improvements at Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield,  Hassocks, Preston Park, Plumpton and Cooksbridge stations, with more to come over the next few weeks.  We work closely with our local communities and know these station improvements will be welcome.

John Halsall, Network Rail South East’s managing director, said: “I’d like to say thank you to the passengers who have been disrupted by this crucial work, which is one of the biggest projects we’ve ever undertaken.

“I know it’s been difficult for them and I am really grateful that so many changed their plans for the week to enable us to concentrate the work in this way. The alternative would have been 84 separate weekend closures, so this has been much more effective for them as well as for us.

“It will be worth it in the long run as we’ve been able to complete major work to the ageing infrastructure which has caused so many delays in the past, as well as repairs in the Victorian-era tunnels which were prone to flooding.

“All of this means we can provide a more reliable service that passengers deserve and can depend on.”