A RAIL company is providing free parking and direct replacement buses this weekend.

Southern Railway has stopped all services between Brighton and Three Bridges as it carries out engineering works on the Brighton Mainline. This is set to last until tomorrow.

It has been a nightmare for many commuters with hours added to their journey times as they have to travel via Littlehampton to reach Brighton.

Fed-up passengers also said journey times were increased because rail replacement buses stopped at all stations between Brighton and Three Bridges instead of going direct.

Now the rail company has said it will run faster, direct services between the two this weekend.

A spokesman for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said: “On Mondays to Fridays the number of customers travelling on the Brighton Mainline makes it impractical to transport everyone using buses alone.

“We have already brought in more than 100 additional buses a day, compared to what we normally run at weekends, and have up to 35 buses an hour arriving at Three Bridges. If we ran non-stop buses from Brighton we would need another 40.

“The hub at Three Bridges and the road network would not be able to cope with 75 buses an hour and the station and trains at Three Bridges would be potentially very overcrowded.

“Fewer buses are needed at the weekend, however, which is why last Saturday and Sunday we were able to put on some non-stop buses to improve the service for our passengers.

“Having reviewed how that operation went, we will have non-stop buses throughout Saturday and Sunday this weekend.”

It said it had not been able to offer direct services throughout the week as it did not have enough buses.

A spokesman said: “To provide non-stop services would mean using our contingency buses which we need to keep in reserve for use across the network should there be any disruption, road closures or anything else that impacts the service.”

GTR has also provided free parking at Gatwick Airport during the engineering works.

A spokesman for the rail company said: “We have secured 2,800 car parking spaces at Gatwick Airport and a frequent shuttle bus will operate to and from the train station.

“There is no charge for using this facility however it will be limited and available on a first come, first serve basis by booking in advance.”

People can book these spaces by emailing: gatwick.parking@gtrailway.com