Dear Stakeholder,

Work on major £160m upgrade continues over Christmas, to deliver improved reliability for passengers on the Victoria-Croydon line through South London

Network Rail engineers will be working through the entire festive period to bring greater reliability to passengers on the busy London Victoria to East Croydon route.

The ongoing project to replace worn-out 1970s signalling on the lines from London Victoria as far as Balham and Streatham Hill will see over 90 new signals erected, new points put in place, new train detection equipment installed along with upgraded power supplies and control moved to a state-of-the art control centre at Three Bridges.

A major part of this work will take place from Saturday 25 December to Monday 3 January 2022, when no trains will run between East Croydon and London Victoria, with most trains diverted to London Bridge.

How will this affect my journey?

Most trains will be diverted to London Bridge, and limited rail replacement bus services will run between East Croydon or Balham and Clapham Junction for local journeys.

To help you with your journey, tickets will be accepted on the following routes:

• South Western Railway between Clapham Junction / Vauxhall and London Waterloo London
• Buses between: London Victoria and Clapham Junction Balham and Streatham Hill
• Tube services between: London Victoria and Balham / Clapham Junction / Vauxhall / London Bridge / Euston London Bridge and Canada Water
• London Overground between Canada Water and Clapham Junction / Crystal Palace / West Croydon and between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction via Willesden Junction
• London Northwestern Railway between London Euston and Watford Junction / Milton Keynes Central.

Please follow the latest Government advice and always check every journey before you travel at National Rail or the Southern Railway website.

For more information on the Victoria re-signalling project go to networkrail.co.uk/VictoriaResignalling

Three Bridges to Brighton and Lewes closure, Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 February 2022

We would also like to take the opportunity to remind passengers that later in the New Year, from Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 February 2022, Copyhold junction (near Haywards Heath) will be rebuilt with new track and points, and new track will be laid at Burgess Hill. The railway between Three Bridges, Brighton and Lewes will close for these 9 days, with supporting weekend work before and after the main closure. In total, over 1,000 metres of track, 7,000 tonnes of ballast and eight sets of points will be replaced with new, more reliable equipment.

On theses dates, buses will replace trains between Three Bridges, Brighton and Lewes. Find out more at networkrail.co.uk/BrightonMainLine2022

If you have any questions, please do get in contact with us at southernregionstakeholders@networkrail.co.uk.

Kind Regards and Merry Christmas!

Network Rail Southern