Major changes to Thameslink services this Christmas and New Year for engineering work

Passengers are being urged to check before they travel over Christmas and New Year as a major piece of railway improvement work in south London affects Bedford to Brighton Thameslink services, including those to Gatwick.

Network Rail's project, to replace a major railway junction at Purley in Surrey, will sever the main line to Brighton from 11pm on Christmas Eve until 4am on Monday, 4 January.

There will be no Thameslink trains between East Croydon and Redhill, and the Gatwick Express service from Victoria will be suspended. Travel by train between London and the coast will still be possible, but journeys will be diverted, take considerably longer and trains may be busier.

Journey times will be extended by over 60 minutes and customers going to or from Gatwick Airport and stations further south are advised to travel via East Grinstead which will be linked with Three Bridges and Gatwick Airport by bus. Thameslink tickets will be valid on these alternative routes.

A spokesperson for Thameslink said: “Network Rail’s work is essential to improve the reliability of the track and infrastructure which will be better for our passengers in the long run. But it will take considerably longer to travel south of East Croydon and we urge people to plan ahead at National Rail Enquiries, especially if they are using Gatwick Airport this Christmas and New Year.”

New Year's Eve

Also, on New Year’s Eve, London Blackfriars south entrance will close at 7pm and the north entrance will be exit-only from 11.30pm. This is at the request of the authorities who are managing crowds at this very busy time. Passengers are advised to use Farringdon for Thameslink services.

For more information, passengers should visit www.thameslinkrailway.com/christmas2015.

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Notes to editors

For more information call 0345 4700 789 or email press.office@gtrailway.com

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) began running Thameslink (Bedford to Brighton, Sutton and Wimbledon) and Great Northern (London to Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn) rail services on 14 September 2014. A small number of services and stations previously operated by Southeastern transferred to GTR in December 2014 and on 26 July 2015 the Southern and Gatwick Express routes were incorporated into the franchise. GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 273 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn. www.thameslinkrailway.com