Get ready for significant travel changes in south London as Network Rail embarks on a major upgrade of its signalling system. The seven-day closure, starting on Saturday, October 26th and lasting until Friday, November 1st, will affect services between Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill, and Peckham Rye, impacting both National Rail and London Overground lines. This upgrade is part of a £400 million investment program aimed at modernizing track and signalling infrastructure in south London. Notably, a previous phase of upgrades between East Croydon and London Victoria in 2022 resulted in a more than 50% reduction in signalling-related delays, and Network Rail is hopeful that the current phase will yield similar benefits for passengers.
Here’s what you need to know about the service disruptions:
Thameslink:
From Saturday, October 26th to Friday, November 1st, passengers traveling between Herne Hill, Wimbledon, and Sutton are advised to utilize London Buses or alternative National Rail, London Trams, or London Underground routes.Southern:
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Saturday, October 26th and Sunday, October 27th:
There will be no Southern services between Balham and London Bridge; London Victoria and West Croydon (via Crystal Palace); or London Bridge and Streatham. Additionally, services between London Bridge and Beckenham Junction will be suspended. Replacement buses will operate only between London Bridge and Streatham Common, via Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill. Paper tickets will be accepted on local London Buses for other routes.*
Monday, October 28th to Friday, November 1st:
No trains will operate between London Bridge and Streatham nor London Bridge and Beckenham Junction. Trains usually running between London Bridge and London Victoria, and between London Victoria and West Croydon (via Crystal Palace), will be limited to operating between London Victoria and Streatham Hill. Additional trains will be running between London Bridge and Sutton via West Croydon. Replacement buses will run only between London Bridge and Streatham Common, via Peckham Rye and Tulse Hill. Paper tickets will be accepted on London Buses for all other routes.London Overground:
London Overground services between Surrey Quays and Clapham Junction will be replaced by buses throughout the seven-day closure from Saturday, October 26th to Friday, November 1st. Furthermore, London Overground trains between Sydenham and Crystal Palace will be suspended from Saturday, October 26th to Tuesday, October 29th to facilitate the improvement works. Passengers travelling to and from Crystal Palace between Saturday and Tuesday are advised to utilize local buses via any reasonable route. From Saturday, October 26th to Tuesday, October 29th, routes between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon and New Cross will operate on an amended schedule. From Wednesday, October 30th to Friday, November 1st, some Crystal Palace and New Cross services will have adjusted timings. On Saturday, October 26th, Monday, October 28th, and Tuesday, October 29th, two additional trains per hour will operate between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon.Network Rail’s Sussex route director, Lucy McAuliffe, emphasized the importance of the upgrades, stating:
“It’s 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.”In addition to the main closure, there will be weekend closures in the same area both before and after the October half-term closure. These closures are necessary to prepare the new signalling system and remove redundant equipment. After November, the signalling control for Crystal Palace, Peckham Rye, and Tulse Hill will shift from the Victoria Area Signalling Centre to the state-of-the-art Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre. This switch marks the culmination of three years of work involving the installation of 65 new signals, new signal gantries, two new power supply points, and hundreds of kilometers of signalling, telecoms, and power supply cables.