Weekend engineering works

[Freightmaster]

CrossCountry trains are being diverted via Barnsley (i.e. not calling at Wakefield Westgate) on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May.

Swinton is blocked the following weekend too.


MARK

 

[zwk500]

(To anybody on this thread.) How much faster would the route via Uckfield be if it was still open (and, presumably electrified and with adequate power supply for a significant number of 12-car trains)? Please include explanations for the assumed configuration at Lewes in the reply.

The current service from East Croydon to Uckfield takes 75m. Allowing for a 2min per stop reduction in runtime, that would come down to about 1h for an extra stopping only Oxted. Double-tracked and potentially with a few linespeed upgrades, maybe 50mins.

Realtime Trains | 1207 London Bridge to Uckfield | 05/05/2026

Real-time train running information for 1207 departure from London Bridge to Uckfield on 05/05/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Uckfield to Lewes is c.10 miles and would take about 10-15 mins stop-stop however you do it.
Lewes to Brighton non-stop is c.15 mins, based on the fact with a Falmer stop it's 17 mins.

The big question is the Lewes configuration - it's possible to reverse on the Down Main already, although you'll be blocking the line while you do so. That would take about 12 mins for a 12-car train (9 min reversal allowance plus time for moving from platform to turnback and turnback through station). Adding a turnback siding to the north of the line or between the lines is possible to avoid blocking the Down Eastbourne.
That would get you 50+15+15+12 = 92mins.

Alternatively, you could rip the rose-tinted spectacles away from the map marked 'what Beeching did' and look at today's map, and pursue an alternative aligment from Uckfield heading to the large (and rapidly expanding) village of Ringmer, to join the east Coastway line at Glynde. This would probably add 2-3 minutes to the non-stop runtime but would elminate the 12 mins for the reversal, so get the time down to c.85 mins.

However the diverted trains are unlikely to skip all calls as some regular trains will need to be taken out to allow the services to run. So maybe we're looking at times via Uckfield in the 90-100min mark, depending on whether reversing at Lewes).

The GatEx is planned to do East Croydon (pass) to Brighton with 2 stops in 34 mins.
The diversion via Littlehampton was scheduled last weekedn at 99 mins. So Uckfield is saving about 10-15 mins in best case scenario.

Realtime Trains | 1J16 1002 London Victoria to Brighton | 03/05/2026

Real-time train running information for 1J16 1002 departure from London Victoria to Brighton on 03/05/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It is also important to state that a diversion does *NOT* a business case make. The Lewes-Uckfield business case would be made on the basis of regular journeys from the Weald to Brighton, from East Brighton to London direct, and from potentially connecting Ringmer on to the network full stop. It would likely be doubled but worked by BEMUs and not upgraded significantly above the existing speeds.

 

[blimmo]

While I agree with the sentiment that the historic risk to rail workers was too much and needed to be reduced, I can't help but think that the tradeoffs aren't always being considered. After all the best way to reduce the risk to rail workers is just to not have a rail network...

If the increase to the safety of the rail workers by closing the line is outweighed by the increase in risk to the people who would have used those trains but instead drive I don't think the block should happen. And this point is not hard to reach if the unreliability of the trains causes more people to stop using them completely even for journeys when the service is operating normally. I'm not convinced these tradeoffs are being considered when the standards for increased rail worker safety are written.

 

[Snow1964]

Swinton is blocked the following weekend too.


MARK

Network rail article

Passengers are reminded that railway improvement work at Swinton in Rotherham will affect journeys over the next two weekends (9-10 and 16-17 May).

The essential work, which started in early April, includes nearly half a kilometre of track renewal within the 1km worksite either side of Swinton station to maintain the safe and reliable running of train services.

This project involves replacing old sections of track and installing new foundations, using rail-mounted cranes and engineering trains.

The work is being delivered by CRSA – an alliance between Network Rail and Balfour Beatty – and will include:

• laying 420 metres of rail
• replacing three sets of points, the sections of track allowing trains to switch between lines
• placing 2,500 tonnes of ballast, the stone base used for drainage and track support
• installing 650 sleepers, the beams which hold the rails in place.

Preparation work has been taking place since 4 April with little disruption to trains. But the main engineering work requires greater access to the track and means changes to services on the weekends of 9-10 and 16-17 May as follows:

CrossCountry:

• Trains will not call at Wakefield Westgate.
• Services will be retimed between Sheffield and Leeds.

Northern:

• Trains between Sheffield and Doncaster/Adwick will not call at Swinton.
• Trains between Sheffield and Hull will start/terminate at Doncaster.
• A reduced train service will operate between Moorthorpe and Leeds.
• Buses will replace trains between Sheffield and Moorthorpe/York

Reminder: Rotherham track renewal means changes to journeys over next two weekends

Passengers are reminded that railway improvement work at Swinton in Rotherham will affect journeys over the next two weekends (9-10 and 16-17 May).

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk