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04/01/2025

A tree blocking the railway between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges means the line towards London is blocked. As a result, trains running between these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes, cancelled or revised.

This is expected until 22:00.

Customer Advice:

The line from Haywards Heath towards Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport and London is blocked, due to a tree blocking to railway in the Balcombe area.

Services will be delayed, cancelled or revised. Where possible, services can run using the other line, however this will result in significant delays to services travelling in both directions.

You'll need to allow extra time for your journey today - we'd advise at least an extra 30 minutes. You may need to use an alternative route, or change trains in order to complete your journey.

Tickets will be accepted for no extra cost on the following:

  • Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services via any reasonable route
  • Souteastern services between Hastings and London Bridge
  • Brighton & Hove Buses between Brighton and Preston Park and between Brighton, Hove, Portslade and Shoreham-by-Sea
  • London Underground on any reasonable route between London Terminals

Planning your journey:

Live departure boards can be found here.

You can view a live map of the network here.

You can also see an alternative route guide here.

If you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner here.

You can also use our app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

There is a tree blocking the railway in the Balcombe area. At present, the northbound line towards Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport and London is blocked. Network Rail teams have been requested to attend and we'll provide further updates as we get them.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries 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.

Affected operators
Gatwick Express, Southern, Thameslink
Nationalrail link
Last updated: 07/12/24 - 09:05