Delays between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges expected until 11:30  

Route(s) affected

Gatwick Express between Brighton and London Victoria

Southern between Ore / Littlehampton / Eastbourne and London Victoria

Thameslink between Brighton and Bedford / Cambridge

Description

A safety inspection of the track between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges means trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards Three Bridges. As a result, trains may be delayed by up to 15 minutes.

Disruption is expected until 11:30.

Customer advice:

If you are travelling towards London between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges, please allow an extra 30 minutes to complete your journey. We expect delays to reduce back down to around 15 minutes shortly.

Services continue to run at a reduced speed after leaving Balcombe while Network Rail engineers inspect a potential track defect.

Service alterations:

Gatwick Express: Some services will run between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport only, and will not call at stations between Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

Southern: Some services between London Victoria and Portsmouth Harbour via Hove and Littlehampton will run between Haywards Heath and Portsmouth Harbour.

Ticket Acceptance

To help you complete your journey, ticket acceptance is in place at no extra cost on:

• Southern services via any reasonable route in the area

• Thameslink services between Brighton and London

• Gatwick Express services between Brighton, Gatwick Airport, and London Victoria

• London Underground between London Terminals

Planning your journey:

For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.

If you’re travelling within London, you can use the TfL Journey Planner.

Stay up to date on the move with Southern’s WhatsApp channel. Live updates are available Monday to Friday, 07:00–21:00.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Network Rail has been notified of a potential defect with the track between Balcombe and Three Bridges on the London-bound line.

When a possible fault is reported by a driver or detected by monitoring equipment, strict safety rules require train drivers to reduce their speed through the area until specialist track maintenance teams can carry out a physical inspection.

Running at slower speeds prevents damage to trains and track equipment, but creates congestion on this busy stretch of the Brighton Main Line.

Network Rail response staff are en route to inspect the rails and confirm whether repairs are required.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail real-time Journey Planner.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.