Sussex Route
Our Region
Our Southern region serves rail passengers and freight operators from Devon in the west, to Kent in the east. The region spans much of the south of England, covering Dorset, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent, and South London, as well as the Network Rail High Speed route which carries channel tunnel services.
We are committed to deliver a plan that centres around our passengers, putting them at the heart of everything we do and focusing on improvements which will make a difference to their journeys. As part of this commitment, we’re investing a record £1.25 billion to replace old equipment with new, more reliable technology, giving passengers better journeys with fewer delays.
Our Route
Our Sussex route, which includes the Brighton Main Line and its branch lines, is among the busiest and most congested in the country, carrying 3,200 trains every weekday. It’s critical to the regional and national economy, transporting high volumes of travellers from the south coast to the capital, as well as Gatwick Airport, the country’s second busiest international airport and a key gateway to the United Kingdom.
We’re constantly striving to improve passenger experience for the millions who travel along our route each year. To help us achieve this, we are implementing a number of infrastructure projects to improve our railway, including upgrading our tracks, stations, signalling, and trackside equipment, to help us reduce delays and increase capacity.
Key Station
We operate Gatwick Airport station, which sees over 21 million travellers and passengers each year!
Our projects
Gatwick Station Upgrades
In 2019, more than 21 million air travellers and passengers used Gatwick Airport station, up from 14 million 2010. As a result, the existing station was not built to accommodate the number of passengers currently seen.
The Gatwick station upgrade began in 2020, to deliver significant benefits for millions of rail users, commuters, and airport passengers, and create a station that befits Gatwick’s status as a gateway to the country. As part of the large project, we’ve built a new second concourse, as well as refurbished and extended the existing one. We’ve also made the station more accessible through widening platforms and adding new high-capacity lifts.
Upgrading the Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is among the most complex and congested routes in the country. The age of the infrastructure and complex railway layout mean that without significant investment, performance will not improve.
Through our Sussex Upgrades project, we’re implementing a long-term strategy to upgrade the Brighton Main Line, overhauling the outdated infrastructure, and addressing considerable bottlenecks on the lines. As part of this project, we’re looking to redevelop the most challenging bottleneck on Britain’s railway network through the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme.
Our Improvements
We’re continuing to invest heavily in what is some of the oldest and most intensively used infrastructure in the country, spending more than £750m between 2019 and 2024 in a number of projects to improve track, signalling, structures, earthworks, and stations as part of our Sussex Upgrades programme.
The signalling and track at key junctions will be replaced on the lines into London Victoria as part of the four-year Victoria Resignalling programme. We’re continuing to use extended closures to deliver work more quickly and efficiently, minimising disruption to passengers whilst delivering an improved railway.
Roles on this route
No roles are available on this route at this time. Register your interest to be notified when we open new roles.