CROYDON commuters travelling to or through London Bridge are being warned to expect severe delays and disruption at the end of August.
Between August 23 and 31, there will be no direct trains from Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges and East Croydon to the London station, as work continues on its multi-million pound rebuild.
Network Rail has warned that during the period, which takes in four working days and a Bank Holiday weekend, East Croydon Station will be busier than usual.
The London Overground is also expected to be busy, as passengers seek alternative means of getting to the capital - though services will not be able to operate to and from New Cross from August 26-29. These services will be diverted to Crystal Palace to double the number of London Overground trains serving stations between Sydenham and Brockley, which will temporarily not be served by Southern. A replacement bus service will also run every 15 minutes between New Cross and Canada Water.
Stephen Norris, East Croydon station manager, said his team were "ready" for the influx of extra passengers and would be using the same forward planning tactics adopted during the Olympic Games.
Nicky Hughes, from Network Rail, said: "We are doing as much of the construction work as we can behind the scenes, but there will be times, such as this August, when we have to temporarily divert services around the track we're replacing.
"There are alternative routes for everyone affected and we urge passengers across London and south east to visit our new website, check if you are affected and then find out your alternative routes so you know your travel options."
Passengers are also being warned to expect more delays in December and then at various points up to January 2018, as the London Bridge work continues.
The August work at London Bridge - the latest phase of a wholesale redevelopment of the station - will include a vast amount of track and signalling work, to bring the currently closed platforms 12 and 13 back into use. Platforms 10 and 11 will be closed for demolition and rebuilding.
Click here for more details on service disruption and changes.
