Southern Rail: Person hit by a train in Sussex

Southern Rail reported the incident at 8.45pm on Friday (August 8).

"It is with great sadness that we report a person has been hit by a train between Brighton and Barnham," Southern Rail reported on X (formerly Twitter).

"All lines are blocked between these stations whilst the emergency services work to deal with this incident.

"If you are on a train that has come to a stop between stations, please remain on board and await further information.

"We know where you are, and we are working on getting you back on the move as soon as possible."

Passengers were advised to check journey planners and listen to on-board service announcements.

Southern Rail added: "If you are currently trying to travel, you will need to continue to allow an extra 60 minutes, as you will need to use an alternative route.

"Please continue to check before you travel. You can use the alternative route map to plan your journey."

At 10pm, people travelling between the impacted stations were advised to 'put off travelling until later today where possible'.

"There will be a heavily reduced service between these stations for the remainder of the day," Southern added.

"You will also more than likely need to use an alternative route which could extend your journey time by up to 60 minutes.

"We have had to reduce our service to reduce disruption as much as possible in this area."

Trains which usually run between Brighton and Chichester – and between Brighton and Portsmouth – were suspended. People had to use other trains/alternative routes to travel.

Trains which usually run between Brighton and Southampton were only able to travel between Littlehampton/Barnham and Southampton. This meant passengers needed an alternative route between Brighton and Barnham.

"To do this, you should use your ticket on Stagecoach 700 and Stagecoach 500 routes between Brighton and Barnham, which will extend your journey time by around 60 minutes depending on your journey," Southern Rail added.

"Trains which usually run between London Victoria and Littlehampton will run between Victoria and Hove or Brighton only.

"This means you will need to use an alternative route between Hove and Littlehampton. To do this, you can use Stagecoach 700/500 Services, or, travel via Horsham and alight at Barnham. Again, this will extend your journey time by up to 60 minutes."

To help people complete their journey, tickets were accepted on the below services, at no additional cost:

– Alternative Southern services where available, including routes via Three Bridges / Horsham and West Coast stations;

– Brighton & Hove buses on routes between Brighton and Shoreham-by-Sea;

– Stagecoach buses on route 700 between Brighton and Littlehampton;

– South Western Railway trains between Waterloo and Portsmouth/Southampton;

– London Underground via any reasonable route

As of 10.30pm, it was reported that there would be no Southern service at the following stations until further notice: Aldrington; Portslade; Fishersgate; Southwick; Shoreham-by-Sea; Lancing; East Worthing; Worthing (central); West Worthing; Durrington-on-Sea; Goring-by-Sea and Angmering.

Southern added: "If you are travelling from an unstaffed station and you are not sure how to complete your journey, please press the GREEN Emergency button on the station help point to speak to a member of staff."

At 12.40am, some replacement buses were running between Brighton and Barnham, ‘where possible’.

At 4am, the train company reported: “Services are returning to normal between Brighton and Barnham following this tragic incident.

"We work closely with Samaritans and support the work they do. If you or someone close to you has been affected by this or any incident, there is always someone to talk to. Contact Samaritans on 116 123 free at any time, on any phone. Help & advice is only a phone call away.”