Sussex and Surrey residents travelling to London warned about £400 million upgrade works - 'No trains will run on parts'

Network Rail is urging passengers to plan ahead as it brings an upgraded signalling system online over seven days in South London.

The works are part of the company’s Sussex Railway Upgrade plan to ‘modernise the railway network’ to ‘improve passenger journeys’ across Network Rail’s Sussex region.

Between 2024 and 2029, Network Rail is investing £900m as part of the Sussex railway upgrades to ‘modernise track, signalling, stations, structures and earthworks’.

"Upgrade work will mean that no trains will run on parts of the National Rail and London Overground networks for seven days from Saturday, October 26 to Friday, November 1,” a Network Rail spokesperson said.

"The upgrades taking place between Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill and Peckham Rye are part of a £400 million programme of investment in track and signalling upgrades that Network Rail is delivering in South London.

“A previous phase of signalling upgrades between East Croydon and London Victoria in 2022 saw signalling related delays cut by more than half. Network Rail hopes the current phase of upgrades will deliver similar benefits for passengers.”

There will also be some weekend closures in the same area before and after the October half-term closure. These are needed to allow engineers to ‘get the new signalling system ready’ and ‘then to remove redundant equipment that is no longer required’.

Network Rail said signalling control of the Crystal Palace, Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill areas will move from the Victoria Area Signalling Centre to the ‘state-of-the-art’ Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre from November.

The switch-on of the new signalling is the ‘culmination of three years of work’. Network Rail have installed 65 new signals, new signal gantries, two new power supply points and hundreds of kilometres of signalling, telecoms and power supply cables.

The following stations will have no Southern trains for seven days between Saturday, October 26 and Friday, November 1 inclusive: South Bermondsey; Queens Road Peckham; Peckham Rye; East Dulwich; North Dulwich; Tulse Hill; West Norwood; Gipsy Hill; Crystal Palace; Birkbeck; Beckenham Junction.

The following stations will have no Thameslink trains during the same period: Tulse Hill; Streatham; Mitcham Eastfields; Mitcham Junction; Hackbridge; Carshalton; Sutton; West Sutton; Sutton Common; St Helier; Morden South; South Merton; Wimbledon Chase; Wimbledon; Haydens Road; Tooting

The following stations will have no London Overground train service for seven days: Queens Road Peckham; Peckham Rye; Denmark Hill; Clapham High Street; Wandsworth Road.

Crystal Palace station will have no London Overground service for four days between Saturday, October 26 and Tuesday, October 29 inclusive.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “During the seven-day closure, Thameslink passengers travelling between Herne Hill, Wimbledon and Sutton are being advised to use London Buses or alternative National Rail, London Trams or London Underground routes.

“On Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th, there will be no Southern services between Balham and London Bridge; London Victoria and West Croydon (via Crystal Palace); or London Bridge and Streatham.

"There will also be no trains between London Bridge and Beckenham Junction. Replacement buses will only run between London Bridge and Streatham Common, via Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill. For all other routes, paper tickets will be accepted on local London Buses.

“From Monday, October 28 to Friday, November 1, no trains will run between London Bridge and Streatham nor London Bridge and Beckenham Junction. Trains which usually run between London Bridge and London Victoria, and between London Victoria and West Croydon (via Crystal Place), will only run between London Victoria and Streatham Hill. Additional trains will run between London Bridge and Sutton via West Croydon."

Network Rail said replacement buses will only run between London Bridge and Streatham Common, via Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill. Paper tickets will be accepted on London Buses for all other routes.

London Overground services between Surrey Quays and Clapham Junction will be replaced by buses throughout the seven-day closure.

"In addition, London Overground trains between Sydenham and Crystal Palace are also suspended from Saturday 26th to Tuesday 29th to allow the improvement works to take place,” the spokesperson added.

"If you are travelling to and from Crystal Palace on Saturday to Tuesday, you should use local buses via any reasonable route.

From Saturday 26th to Tuesday 29th, there will be an amended service on routes between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon and New Cross. From Wednesday 30th to Friday 1st, some Crystal Palace and New Cross services will be re-timed. Please plan ahead and check before travel.”

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Sussex route director, acknowledged these works will result in ‘days of major changes to journeys for passengers’, adding: “We are sorry for the disruption. Please plan ahead, look out for further updates and follow travel advice.

“It vital that we continue to invest to modernise our assets and give passengers the delay free journeys they expect.

“Signalling upgrades between East Croydon and London Victoria in 2022 saw delays cut by more than half and we are expecting this phase of signalling upgrades in the Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill and Peckham Rye areas to deliver a similarly impressive reduction in delays when it comes into use.”

Jenny Saunders, customer services director for Govia Thameslink Railway, thanked passengers in advance for ‘their patience and understanding while the work is under way’.

She added: “While this major investment in modern signalling is inevitably disruptive, earlier phases of Network Rail’s programme have already brought huge punctuality improvements for our customers on other South London routes.”