January 2026 BML all-line weekend closures (Croydon-Gatwick)

[Edvid]

It piques my interest the BML between East Croydon/Purley & Gatwick Airport will be fully closed for two weekends - as opposed to one - in January 2026.

10-11 January 2026
17-18 January 2026

I'm aware an annual all-line possession is necessitated by Stoats Nest Jn parallel tamping, but what's the reason for an additional block of that nature?

(RTT implies 24-25 January 2026 will be a third closure too)

 

[Edvid]

Indeed there will also be a third weekend closure of all four tracks next January (be it Stoats Nest Jn or elsewhere). Must be quite the series of tasks to require a set of possessions that extensive.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Indeed there will also be a third weekend closure of all four tracks next January (be it Stoats Nest Jn or elsewhere). Must be quite the series of tasks to require a set of possessions that extensive.

—-and surely not just tamping?

 

[zwk500]

The indications from the list of affected places are that Purley and Redhill are not blocked for the entire time. East Grinstead seems to keep it's service (although will be busy) and Uckfield isn't mentioned as being disrupted so the suggestion is that the block doesn't actually get as far as South Croydon?

It's possible that if they're doing 1 job that requires closure of all 4 lines at Stoats Nest Jn then other work has been programmed to take advantage of the closure, but that not all of it can happen at the same time, hence the slightly different limits of the closures each time.

 

[Edvid]

To elaborate further it's everything through Stoats Nest Jn specifically that's blocked throughout the Sat/Sun timetables (as is Redhill, per RTT). To my understanding the tamping there only requires one weekend closure a year, hence my curiosity about the other two.

On Sundays I should say the block extends to South Croydon; only the services via Oxted continue further, primarily so passengers can use the frequent rail replacement services between East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport / Three Bridges.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

There is renewal of the Down Fast Salfords to Horley which historically would have been done under two track closures historically but those days are long gone. What is odd is why the lines via Redhill are being closed all three weekends as it used to be a 28hr Sunday to tamp and tinker with Stoats Nest. This suggests something else significant is happening on the Redhill lines as there are no services in any direction.

 

[Minstral25]

There's a lot of electrical, power and signalling work including renewals being undertaken whilst line is closed - especially between Coulsdon and Redhill. Also, conductor Rail replacement between Redhill and Reigate/Nutfield. Plus, track renewals on all 4 lines. Seems like they are going to be very busy

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

There's a lot of electrical, power and signalling work including renewals being undertaken whilst line is closed - especially between Coulsdon and Redhill. Also, conductor Rail replacement between Redhill and Reigate/Nutfield. Plus, track renewals on all 4 lines. Seems like they are going to be very busy

Con rail on the main lines/reigate is possibly still 1930s vintage in places. The section upto Nutfield is 150lb/yd installed 1993 so shouldn't need replacing. I hope the signalling isnt a rewire of relay rooms as that didn't go so well at Gloucester. Track circuits were upgraded to jointless where reed 7yrs ago. Maybe targeted renewals of kit at jcns although no sign of new locn case at any of the jcns. Hopefully the Sussex project group newsletter started with Gatwick Stn works will issue out a notice as they been uninformative.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

NR have issued an overview of the closures with what is happening

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/our-w...lan/essential-work-on-the-brighton-main-line/

Key improvements to boost reliability and safety include:

• Track Renewal: Installing new rails and conductor rail, plus refurbishing switches and crossings to improve performance. New rail at Purley, between Earlswood and Horley and between Merstham and Coulsdon South. New conductor rail between Redhill and Reigate and refurbishment of the busy Stoats Nest Junction, between Purley and Coulsdon South.
• Earthworks: Strengthening a cutting north of Merstham to provide stable foundations and prevent landslips.
• Drainage: Repairing the drainage systems along 3 miles of track at Caterham to manage water effectively and reduce potential delays.
• Bridges: Installing wheel timbers at the Intersect bridge near Godstone and the Brighton Road bridge at Coulsdon South to maintain structural integrity.
• Access Points: Adding a new road-rail access point near Purley for our construction vehicles to access the track and make repairs.

 

[Edvid]

I can't remember if the open gates at EGR (East Grinstead) were switched on during last January's closure.

Now that contactless is valid there said gates will have to remain switched on during this month's closures. It's possible many passengers heading to GTW (Gatwick Airport) from/via the London zones will tap off at EGR - successfully with contactless, unsuccessfully with Oyster - unless arrangements are clearly explained both there and at GTW, which include a considerable dogleg path to the latter.

The other direction shouldn't be an issue if they repeat last year's arrangement of tapping on at GTW and using the ungated side-entrance at EGR.

 

[devon_belle]

Victoria-Gatwick diversions via Dorking three weekends in a row is the most I've seen in a while – usually it has been twice per year only. On Saturdays buses are replacing the Horsham to Dorking stoppers, presumably for timing reasons (although others have cited the electricity supply). Fortunately Southern have communicated the bus replacement service, unlike last time!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Victoria-Gatwick diversions via Dorking three weekends in a row is the most I've seen in a while – usually it has been twice per year only. On Saturdays buses are replacing the Horsham to Dorking stoppers, presumably for timing reasons (although others have cited the electricity supply). Fortunately Southern have communicated the bus replacement service, unlike last time!

I doubt it will be power supply that section is fed at 33kV and the longer signalling headway constrains how many trains can be accommodated.

 

[Hugo Smith]

Any reason why they are running as 12 car trains and not 10 car? Just seems strange that you would run stock that hangs off of the platforms in the event of an emergency. Also found it funny that last Saturday at least you could board this train at Epsom to travel to Gatwick. I'm sure if they actually put the effort in that they could've kept the Dorking service to Horsham on the Saturdays

 

[Mattplans]

Looks like this weekend the engineering work will overrun.

Incident: Purley | National Rail

Lines reopened: disruption between Gatwick Airport and Redhill / East Croydon. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

Route(s) affected​

Gatwick Express between Brighton and London Victoria

Southern between Bognor Regis and London Victoria / London Bridge, between Caterham and London Bridge, and also between Portsmouth Harbour / Portsmouth & Southsea / Eastbourne / Hastings / Havant / Ore / Horsham / Littlehampton / Reigate / Gatwick Airport and London Victoria

Thameslink between Brighton / Three Bridges / Gatwick Airport and Bedford, between Brighton and Cambridge, and also between Horsham and Peterborough

Description​

There is engineering taking place today between Gatwick Airport / Redhill and Reigate / Purley / East Croydon today. This work is now expected to overrun.

This means that trains running between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon may be cancelled or revised throughout the day tomorrow. Earlswood (Surrey) and Salfords stations will not be served.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day tomorrow, Monday 19 January.

You can read more about how this engineering work between will affect today's services on our Status and Disruptions page.

A visual disruption map video is now available.

Customer advice:

Engineering works between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon are expected to overrun until the end of day tomorrow, Monday 19 January.

For the whole of tomorrow, only two of the four lines will be available, and as such a reduced service will run all day. The following changes are expected to services running in both directions:

• Gatwick Express services between Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London Victoria will be suspended
• Thameslink services between Brighton and Cambridge will be suspended
• Peak time Southern services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria will not run
• Peak time Southern services between Littlehampton / Bognor Regis / Eastbourne and London Bridge will not run
• No services will stop at Earlswood (Surrey) or Salfords all day

Other short notice changes are also expected, as well as delays due to the reduced line availability through the area.

The following services will now run normally tomorrow:

• Southern services between Reigate and London Victoria
• Southern services between Redhill and Tonbridge

Please check before you travel using online journey planners - these are expected to be updated with any changes by 22:00 this evening, but this will be confirmed here once done. If your planned train is affected then you may need to take a different train than planned, change trains en route or use an alternative route instead.

You journey may take longer than usual as a result, although this may vary between an extra 10 minutes to an extra hour depending on the journey you are making. Please allow extra time to account for this.

Alternatively, if you wish to delay your journey until Tuesday, then you can use your ticket dated Monday 19 January on Tuesday 20 January instead.

Please note this only applies to journeys made on Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services, and not any other operators.

Alternative journey options:

Ticket acceptance will be arranged tomorrow on a range of alternatives to help you complete your journey.

In addition to this, attempts are being made to source buses for some routes. Further details on these will be provided once more is known.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Network Rail have been carrying out engineering work this weekend between Gatwick Airport, Purley and East Croydon, closing all lines. They have recently advised that the works are not expected to finish on time, and as such only two out of the usual four lines will be available all day tomorrow, Monday 19 January.

All lines are expected to reopen by the start of service Tuesday 20 January.

Check before you travel:

The have suspended services between Brighton and Cambridge, but they probably could have kept these running between Cambridge and East Croydon. I imagine the limiting factor would have been where these are crewed from.

 

[Minstral25]

Looks like this weekend the engineering work will overrun.

Incident: Purley | National Rail

Lines reopened: disruption between Gatwick Airport and Redhill / East Croydon. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

The have suspended services between Brighton and Cambridge, but they probably could have kept these running between Cambridge and East Croydon. I imagine the limiting factor would have been where these are crewed from.

How would they turn them round - only one platform for turnback's from London at East Croydon and it is used by other services all day.

 

[Intercity_225]

Will the Cambridge - Brighton services be diverted into Kings Cross, and what will happen with the Peterborough - Horsham services?

 

[Surreytraveller]

Any reason why they are running as 12 car trains and not 10 car? Just seems strange that you would run stock that hangs off of the platforms in the event of an emergency. Also found it funny that last Saturday at least you could board this train at Epsom to travel to Gatwick. I'm sure if they actually put the effort in that they could've kept the Dorking service to Horsham on the Saturdays

12 cars have more capacity than 10 cars. This is important due to the severely reduced service between London and Gatwick Airport.
Running trains longer than platforms they don't call at happens thousands of times each day all over the country.
Trains too long for platforms even happens at stations where they do call at.
There aren't enough drivers to run additional trains between Horsham and Dorking as well as the normal service.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jan 2026 ==

Will the Cambridge - Brighton services be diverted into Kings Cross, and what will happen with the Peterborough - Horsham services?

Peterborough to Horsham trains will still run. There is a reduction of capacity, not a closure of all lines

 

[Intercity_225]

Peterborough to Horsham trains will still run. There is a reduction of capacity, not a closure of all lines

Ah, misread the NR page. Thanks

 

[Surreytraveller]

Looks like this weekend the engineering work will overrun.

Incident: Purley | National Rail

Lines reopened: disruption between Gatwick Airport and Redhill / East Croydon. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

The have suspended services between Brighton and Cambridge, but they probably could have kept these running between Cambridge and East Croydon. I imagine the limiting factor would have been where these are crewed from.

If the driver is at Brighton and the train is at East Croydon, how is that going to work?

 

[Mattplans]

If the driver is at Brighton and the train is at East Croydon, how is that going to work?

I imagine the limiting factor would have been where these are crewed from.

 

[Surreytraveller]

No Thameslink trains have crew changes at East Croydon

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

How would they turn them round - only one platform for turnback's from London at East Croydon and it is used by other services all day.

With Gatwick Express removed and other service thinning they would have P2 available to use for turnbacks which looks like it's going to the Arun Valley service. Why they are bouncing that service group is odd would have thought Gatwick or 3 Bridges would have been more suitable.

 

[Ted633]

Looks like the issue is somewhere between Gatwick & Redhill on the slow lines.

 

[OneOfThe48]

If two of the lines are closed between Redhill and Gatwick there isn’t enough capacity on the line for the Cambridge service to run through it (which service would you like to remove instead?), and no where to turn it around north of there

 

[Surreytraveller]

Looks like the issue is somewhere between Gatwick & Redhill on the slow lines.

The issue is on the Fast Lines

 

[Ted633]

The issue is on the Fast Lines

Fair enough. Assumed It was the fasts as Salfords and Earlswood stops are canned.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Fair enough. Assumed It was the fasts as Salfords and Earlswood stops are canned.

Salfords and Earlswood stops will be taken out to provide capacity

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

So we've gone from two lines shut all day to all lines reopened and the operators now attempting to reinstate serviced.

https://x.com/NetworkRailSE

Our engineers have worked around the clock to complete the essential engineering works between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport

Good work by NR teams but that's quite a turnaround from 12hrs ago. That's a lot work by control that now has to be unpicked. Yes you need to warn people and put contingency plans in place but did they need to make it all day that early yesterday?

 

[flitwickbeds]

Looks like they managed to complete largely on time anyway.

 

[Ian Hardy]

Could be fun tomorrow:
National Rail https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/gatwick-airport-20260123/

Potential disruption to journeys between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria on Saturday 24 January
A landslip between Horsham and Dorking is expected to impact trains running between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria tomorrow, Saturday 24 January.​