ROADS were closed and trains were delayed after a lorry crashed into a railway bridge.
The lorry struck the bridge near Christ's Church Hospital in Horsham at about 11.30am yesterday
Police closed the A24 northbound while damage was assessed.
The road remained closed for several hours and motorists were urged to find a different route.
Southern Rail initially announced that as a safety precaution trains to Christ's Hospital and Horsham were cancelled or running at a reduced speed.
It was then announced that all lines between Horsham and Barnham were to be suspended.
A Southern Rail response team attended the scene to investigate the bridge, which was also damaged last year.
While a spokesman warned using an alternative route would add approximately 60 minutes on to journey times.
Tickets were accepted at no additional cost on all Southern Rail routes, Thameslink trains between Three Bridges and Brighton and South Western Rail routes between Southampton/Portsmouth and London Waterloo.
And rail replacement buses ran between Horsham and Barnham.
At around 1.45pm, Southern Rail response teams tested the bridge infrastructure to see if it was safe for trains to resume between Horsham and Barnham.
The lines reopened at 4.20pm, but delays and cancellations remained to services to and from Horsham, Barnham, Bognor, Portsmouth and Southampton.
By 6.42pm, the disruption had ended.
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