Brighton train station sees long queues due to engineering works

Queues for services at Brighton train station stretched from the length of the platform to the forecourt as engineering works caused severe delays to Three Bridges.

Some passengers travelling on Saturday, November 12, found that their journeys took nearly double the usual time as trains to London Victoria were diverted to Littlehampton.

One passenger who got caught in the disruption said: “A lot of people were saying it was ridiculous. I was in the queue and it took over an hour to get to the buses.

“Normally you can get straight on the buses, but the queue was all the way back to the ticket machines.

“We are all used to the engineering works now but I think the train services need to get better.”

Passengers were forced to queue in a line snaking along the side of the platform as buses replaced most services to Three Bridges.

Long queues of people waited for Rail replacement buses to Three Bridges (Image: Public contribution)

Southern trains were periodically run between Brighton and London Victoria but additionally stopped in Littlehampton, with the diversion adding an hour to travel times.

According to Trainline, a train from Brighton to London Victoria on Saturday, November 12, took nearly two and a half hours, compared to as low as an hour during normal service.

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Services were also disrupted on return journeys towards Brighton throughout the evening. One passenger who travelled to London said: “My journey which would normally have taken an hour ended up being double that because the train I was on had to go in completely the wrong direction.

“On the way home I left London around 8.30pm and got to Brighton at around 10.30pm. I was forced to take two trains and then a bus, it was awful.

“I think that more buses should have been run to lessen the congestion. The whole trip felt unnecessarily complicated.”

Disruptions were put in place in order for engineering works to be completed on the Brighton Mainline between the city and Three Bridges.

In a statement, Southern’s Customer Services Director Chris Fowler said: “We apologise sincerely to customers who were affected by the severe disruption to replacement bus services at Three Bridges on Saturday evening, which resulted from an unfortunate combination of causes.

“Initially, buses were delayed when arriving and attempting to turn at the station because a lot of cars had been left in the car park when it was closed for the bus operation. With more passengers than usual arriving at the station in the early evening, queues for buses began to build up.

“The situation was exacerbated when two buses broke down, and worsened still further when more buses had to be taken out of service to be cleaned before being brought back into passenger use.

“We are grateful to customers for their patience during this experience, and encourage anyone whose journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more to claim Delay Repay compensation via the Southern or Thameslink websites.”