Weekend closures on Brighton Mainline to begin

Network Rail has been advising passengers of the changes

Work to improve one of the "least reliable parts" of the South East's rail network is getting under way this weekend.

The closure of the southern end of the Brighton Mainline is part of a £67m improvement project.

The line will be closed between Three Bridges and Brighton, and Three Bridges and Lewes, every weekend this month.

Four Victorian tunnels will be improved and sections of the track, points and signalling will be replaced.

Engineers will focus on the tunnels at Balcombe, Clayton, Patcham and Haywards Heath, and the railway which runs through them.

Rail replacement buses and trains running via the longer route through Littlehampton will operate instead.

More news from across the South East

Network Rail said it was the first major overhaul of the railway between Three Bridges and Brighton in more than 30 years.

The work is part of a wider £300m programme to improve the reliability of some of the busiest and most congested lines in the South East, including the recently expanded Thameslink network, it said.

More weekend closures on the line are planned up until next May, with a complete closure for nine days in February.

Paul Harwood, Network Rail's director of South East route investment, said: "We want to make the least reliable part of our network better for passengers.

"We know there's never a good time to close the railway, which is why we're working closely with our train operator partners to keep disruption to passengers to an absolute minimum."