Network Rail has announced a further £5m investment into the Arun Valley line, improving stations, track and signalling across the route.
The additional investment will allow for stations along the Arun Valley line to be deep cleaned and refurbished, track circuits - part of the signalling system which detects trains - to be replaced and the renewal of sections of track at Pulborough, Warnham and Barnes Green brought forward.
The improvement works will be delivered over a nine-day closure from August 14 to August 22, 2021, as well as during several weekends between July and October.
Alongside the additional improvements, Network Rail engineers will carry out the replacement of nine sets of switches and crossings at Horsham and the installation of a new crossover on the approaches to Horsham station to provide greater flexibility for services using the line.
These form part of the Arun Valley Line Improvement Project, which will also see essential drainage work carried out to help reduce the risk of flooding on the line.
Network Rail Southern region’s Investment Director Paul Harwood said: “Network Rail is committed to making journeys better for passengers and this project will help to improve the reliability of services on the Arun Valley line.
“By doing the work over a nine-day closure, we can not only get essential work done more quickly with less overall disruption to passengers but deliver more improvement work than traditional weekend access approaches allow.
“Which is why today we were able to announce an extra £5m investment to improve stations, signalling and track along the whole line, as well as deliver essential upgrades to track at Horsham.
“I’d like to also thank passengers for their patience while we carry out these important works. We are working with Southern, Thameslink and stakeholders so people are aware of the changes to their journeys.”
Chris Fowler, Southern’s Customer Services Director, added: “Network Rail’s work programme is absolutely essential to improve reliability for customers on our network.
“We’ll be running replacement bus services, and trains will continue to run along the West Sussex coastal route and between Brighton and London. That does mean journeys will take considerably longer than normal, so please make a note of these dates, and check journey planners for details of the alternative arrangements nearer the time.”
