THERE will be major disruption to trains due to an £160 million upgrade project.

The signalling modernisation programme on the London Victoria to East Croydon route will affect Southern services across the festive period.

The project will replace signalling on the lines from Victoria as far as Balham and Streatham Hill, as well as see control moved to a state-of-the art control centre at Three Bridges.

More than 90 new signals will also be erected, new points put in place, new train detection equipment and upgraded power supplies installed.

The major work will take place between December 25 and January 3, 2022.

No trains will run between East Croydon and London Victoria during that time, with most trains diverted to London Bridge.

Network Rail Sussex route director Katie Frost said: “Nine days is a long time to close a main line railway and I know that a lot of people will be asking why we’ve got to do this now.

“The truth is that with fewer people travelling during the festive period this is still the best way for us to do large-scale improvements and if we had to do this work at weekends, we would be closing the railway far more often and disrupting far more people.

“So, I’d like to that our passengers and neighbours for their patience with us, and urge people who are travelling over the festive season to plan their journeys before they leave.

“This project will have a huge impact on the reliability of the railway for years to come and it will be worth the wait.”

Chris Fowler, customer services director for Southern, said: “These engineering programmes are essential to give our customers the reliable, on-time services they rightly expect.

“We’re working closely with Network Rail and other transport partners to ensure our customers can get where they need to be when services are affected. Some journeys will take considerably longer than normal, so please check routes and times in advance.”

Over the ten-day closure, Pouparts Junction near Battersea will be completely rebuilt and signal gantries to house the signalling equipment, cables routes and power supply points will be installed along the lines from Balham to London Victoria.

To help customers, tickets will be accepted on the following routes:

• South Western Railway between Clapham Junction / Vauxhall and London Waterloo London

• Buses between: London Victoria and Clapham Junction Balham and Streatham Hill

• Tube services between: London Victoria and Balham / Clapham Junction / Vauxhall / London Bridge / Euston London Bridge and Canada Water

• London Overground between Canada Water and Clapham Junction / Crystal Palace / West Croydon and between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction via Willesden Junction

• London Northwestern Railway between London Euston and Watford Junction / Milton Keynes Central.