Planned railway engineering works between Brighton and Worthing have been cancelled, allowing trains to run normally across key south-coast routes this week, bringing major relief to thousands of commuters and travellers at the start of January. In the second sentence of the updated service notice, Southern Rail confirmed that the disruption originally scheduled from Monday 5 January to Friday 9 January will no longer take place, restoring full services across one of southern England’s busiest rail corridors, as reported by The WP Times, citing National Rail and Southern Rail.
The works, which had been due to run until 11.59pm on Friday 9 January, would have affected multiple inter-city and coastal routes, including services between London Victoria and Worthing, as well as trains running between Brighton and Portsmouth Harbour and onward to West Worthing. Their cancellation means passengers will not face replacement buses, timetable reductions or extended journey times.
What has changed for passengers
Southern Rail said all journey planning systems have now been updated. The National Rail Enquiries Journey Plannerreflects the cancellation, meaning travellers can book and travel exactly as they would in a normal working week.
For many people across Sussex, this is particularly important. January is one of the busiest periods for commuter travel after the Christmas and New Year break, with thousands of office workers returning to London, university students travelling back to Brighton, and tourists heading to the south coast.
Without the engineering works, the following routes are now running as normal:
- London Victoria ↔ Worthing
- Brighton ↔ Worthing
- Brighton ↔ Portsmouth Harbour
- Brighton ↔ West Worthing
This also keeps key connections open for passengers travelling to Gatwick Airport via Brighton and London Victoria.
The Brighton–Worthing line is one of the most heavily used stretches of railway in southern England. It links major population centres, coastal resorts, business districts and commuter hubs. Any disruption typically causes congestion on the A27 road corridor and increased pressure on local bus networks.
By cancelling the planned works, Southern Rail has avoided a week of potential delays, missed connections and overcrowding, particularly during the busy post-holiday travel period.
Passengers who had already been preparing for longer journeys or rail replacement buses can now travel as planned.
Where to check live updates
Southern Rail advises passengers to continue checking:
- National Rail Enquiries
- The Southern Rail website and app
- Station departure boards
Although services are running normally, winter weather can still cause delays, so real-time updates remain important for those travelling early mornings and late evenings. For now, however, the Brighton–Worthing corridor is fully operational, keeping the south coast moving during one of the most important commuter weeks of the year.
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