Victoria re-signalling and station improvements

Service changes in 2024

Over several Sundays this year the line between Herne Hill, Brixton and London Victoria will be closed, along with Brixton station.

Our trains will be diverted to and from Blackfriars, Cannon Street and Charing Cross.

During the closures upgrade work will be carried out by Network Rail (NR) engineers as part of the Victoria re-signalling and station improvement programmes, which will boost reliability, ease congestion, and reduce crowding at the station during peak times.

You can find more detailed information below, please check before you travel.

Thank you for bearing with us while the improvement work is carried out.

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When are the line closures?

Sunday 1 December

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What are the service changes when the line is closed?

Victoria services will divert to Blackfriars, Cannon Street and Charing Cross. Trains between Victoria and Orpington will run from Blackfriars, calling additionally at Elephant and Castle. Brixton station will be closed all day.

Additional trains will run between Blackfriars and Orpington via Denmark Hill, Lewisham, and Bromley South.

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What are the service changes on the other routes?

Sole Street Line: Trains between Victoria and Ramsgate / Dover Priory via Chatham will run from Cannon Street and run non-stop between London Bridge and St Mary Cray / Swanley. Stopping services between Victoria and Gillingham will not run.

Maidstone East Line: Trains between Victoria and Ashford International via Maidstone East will run from Charing Cross and run non-stop between London Bridge and St Mary Cray. Trains which usually run between Charing Cross and Maidstone East will stop additionally at St Mary Cray.

Bexleyheath Line: Trains between Victoria and Dartford via Bexleyheath will not run. Additional trains will run between Charing Cross and Dartford via Bexleyheath.

More information is available on our Planned Engineering Work page.

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What is the ticket acceptance?

With a valid Southeastern ticket you can use the following services at no extra cost to complete your journey:

• London Underground between Victoria, Brixton, Elephant & Castle, Blackfriars, Charing Cross, Embankment, Cannon Street, London Bridge, Southwark and Waterloo.
• Thameslink between Blackfriars, Bromley South, and Sevenoaks to connect with services to / from Gillingham, Faversham, Ashford International, Ramsgate and Dover Priory (at Swanley).
• On Sundays only, you can use London Bus routes P12, 78 and 484 between Denmark Hill and Lewisham.

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What is the Victoria re-signalling programme?

A new signalling system to replace the older signalling that dates from the 1980s that will help to improve reliability.

The next phase follows the signalling upgrade between East Croydon and London Victoria, which has cut delays by half.

Find out more details about the Victoria re-signalling programme.

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What improvements are there at Victoria station?

The number of gatelines are increasing from 88 to 121, including adding five of the wider gates and upgrading 11 others to make them fully accessible.

Overhead display indicators are being installed above each gate to clearly show in which direction the ticket gates are open.

Additionally, new and improved CIS (customer information screens) are going up by the platforms to aid journey planning. The work is due to complete later this year.

You can find more details on the Network Rail project page.