No trains call at Redhill, Earlswood or Merstham from 20 December to 3 January while a mile of track is renewed. No Victoria to Reigate trains, and Redhill parking is cut.

Redhill station will have no trains for two weeks over Christmas. From Sunday 20 December to Sunday 3 January, every service that passes through the station is replaced by buses while Network Rail renews more than a mile of track.

Network Rail announced the dates on Friday 23 October (Network Rail). Trains will keep running on the fast lines that bypass the station. Anyone who boards at Redhill, Earlswood or Merstham will be on a bus.

Which stations lose their trains

Network Rail lists these stations as having no trains, only buses:

  • Redhill
  • Earlswood
  • Merstham
  • Coulsdon South, in Croydon
  • Nutfield, about two miles east of Redhill
  • Godstone, in Tandridge, about five miles east

There will be no trains between London Victoria and Reigate. Reigate keeps its Great Western Railway trains towards Guildford and Reading, but they terminate there instead of running on to Redhill and Gatwick Airport.

What runs instead

The detail is in National Rail’s notice for the closure (National Rail) and Network Rail’s notes to editors.

Southern

  • Victoria to Reigate trains do not run.
  • Redhill to Tonbridge trains run only between Edenbridge and Tonbridge.
  • Buses run between Reigate and Redhill or Edenbridge, between Purley and Redhill, Reigate or Horley, and between Redhill and Edenbridge, also calling at Edenbridge Town.
  • Some Victoria to Sussex coast trains make extra stops at Purley and Horley.

Thameslink

  • No trains run between Purley and Horley via Redhill.
  • Replacement buses run between Purley and Horley, calling at Purley, Coulsdon South, Merstham, Redhill, Earlswood, Salfords and Horley. They run every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Great Western Railway

  • Trains from Reading and Guildford terminate at Reigate.
  • Buses run non-stop between Reigate and Gatwick Airport. GWR passengers at Redhill should use the Southern buses to reach Reigate.
  • After about 9.30pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, no GWR services run on this stretch. On New Year’s Day they start slightly later than usual.

Metrobus. Rail tickets are accepted at no extra cost on Metrobus buses between Redhill and Three Bridges. Network Rail names routes 100, 400, 420 and 460; National Rail’s notice names the 100 and 400 only, so check with Metrobus before relying on the 420 or 460.

Parking and the subway

Timeline of the Redhill Christmas rail closure: the car park at the front of Redhill station closes at 10pm on Thursday 17 December; on Sunday 20 December buses replace all trains through Redhill and car park 2 and the Marketfield Way to Redstone Hill subway close; on 25 and 26 December no GWR trains or replacement buses run through Reigate; the subway reopens at 1am on Tuesday 29 December; the closure ends on Sunday 3 January and car park 2 reopens on 4 January.
Key dates for the Redhill Christmas closure. Graphic by Reigate News, from Network Rail and National Rail.
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Parking at Redhill station will be “very limited”, Network Rail says:

  • Car park 2 closes from 20 December to 4 January 2027 for a works compound.
  • The car park at the front of the station closes from 10pm on Thursday 17 December to 11.59pm on Sunday 3 January, for the replacement buses.
  • The subway under the railway between Marketfield Way and Redstone Hill closes from 12.01am on Sunday 20 December to 12.59am on Tuesday 29 December.

The subway is the walking route between the town centre side and Redstone Hill. Network Rail’s release does not say what the signed alternative will be.

Why now

The work is part of £31.7 million Network Rail is spending on the Southern region’s railway this Christmas. At Redhill it will install new switches and crossings, the equipment that lets trains move from one track to another. Two further sections of track get new rail, sleepers and ballast. Signalling and track maintenance between Merstham and Redhill is being done at the same time.

“We need to renew more than a mile of track infrastructure at Redhill, but we’re not able to do this without an extended closure,” said Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Sussex route director. She said doing it in one go over the holiday “will save many weekends of disruptive closures”.

What it means for you

If you commute from Redhill or Merstham between Christmas and New Year, plan on a bus to Purley or Horley and a train from there. Allow extra time: Southern warns the replacement buses “will regrettably take longer”.

If you are visiting family on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, National Rail says no GWR trains or replacement buses run through Reigate on either day, and the Thameslink replacement buses between Purley and Horley do not run either.

If you live in Reigate and travel to London, there is no direct train for the whole fortnight. The replacement buses to Purley, or via Redhill, are the options National Rail lists.

If you park at Redhill station, expect the front car park and car park 2 to be closed. Our parking in Reigate page lists the council’s car parks in Redhill town centre.

If you are flying from Gatwick, GWR passengers change to a non-stop bus at Reigate. From Redhill, the replacement buses run to Horley, where some Victoria to Sussex coast trains make extra stops.

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve last trains from other operators are not yet published. We keep our Christmas trains page up to date as they are. Next week’s separate closure of the Redhill to Tonbridge line is in our landslip story.

Sources