South London trains set to be disrupted

Train services will be suspended for one week at the end of October on parts of National Rail and London Overground lines in South London because of improvements being made to the signalling,

The disruption will be during the half-term week from Saturday, 26 October to Friday 1 November.

During the closure, passengers on Thameslink services between Herne Hill, Wimbledon and Sutton should use London Buses or alternative National Rail, London Trams, or London Underground routes.

National Rail service alterations

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October

There will be no Southern services between:

Balham and London Bridge;

London Victoria and West Croydon (via Crystal Palace);

London Bridge and Streatham.

London Bridge and Beckenham Junction.

Replacement buses will operate between London Bridge and Streatham Common, via Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill.

On all other routes, local London Buses will accept paper train tickets.

Monday 28 October to Friday 1 November

No trains will run between London Bridge and Streatham or London Bridge and Beckenham Junction.

London Bridge to London Victoria, and London Victoria to West Croydon (via Crystal Place) services will only run between London Victoria and Streatham Hill.

Extra trains will run between London Bridge and Sutton via West Croydon.

Replacement buses will operate between London Bridge and Streatham Common, via Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill.

On all other routes, local London Buses will accept paper train tickets.

London Overground

Saturday 26 October to Friday 1 November

Services between Surrey Quays and Clapham Junction will be replaced by buses.

Saturday 26 to Tuesday 29 October

There will be no trains between Sydenham and Crystal Palace.

Passengers travelling to and from Crystal Palace should use local buses.

Saturday 26 to Tuesday 29 October

An amended service will operate between:

Highbury & Islington;

West Croydon and New Cross.

Some Crystal Palace and New Cross services will be re-timed.

Signalling improvements to the lines in South London were due to take place in February but were delayed pending further changes.

At the end of last month, services were disrupted for ten days due to work at Crystal Palace Junction.

“It vital that we continue to invest to modernise our assets and give passengers the delay free journeys they expect.

“Signalling upgrades between East Croydon and London Victoria in 2022 saw delays cut by more than half and we are expecting this phase of signalling upgrades in the Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill and Peckham Rye areas to deliver a similarly impressive reduction in delays when it comes into use.

“We know the work means days of major changes to journeys for passengers and we are sorry for the disruption.?Please plan ahead, look out for further updates and follow travel advice.”

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail Sussex route director

“While this major investment in modern signalling is inevitably disruptive, earlier phases of Network Rail’s programme have already brought huge punctuality improvements for our customers on other South London routes. We thank passengers in advance for their patience and understanding while the work is under way.”

Jenny Saunders, Govia Thameslink Railway Customer Services Director