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London Bridge travel disruption: Everything Thameslink, Southeastern, Overground and Southern service commuters need to know

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Most commuters who travel to London Bridge are already used to stuffy train carriages, infuriating delays, slow trawls through crowded platforms and queues for ticket machines.
 
Yet it could all be about to get even more stressful due to the next phase of a massive Network Rail rebuilding project at London Bridge mainline station that begins this month and lasts until 2018.
 
While both the tube and rail stations will remain open for that time, commuters on the London Overground, Southern, Thameslink and Southeastern services will have to deal with a whole raft of disruptions and adjustments.
 
Transport for London is warning that services and stations on the various networks "will be busier than usual as National Rail customers use alternative routes to complete their journeys".
 
We can't promise you a headache-free commute this Christmas, but we have put together all the necessary information you'll need to make it as painless as possible:
 
Southeastern
Overground
Southern
Thameslink
 

Southern

If you’re a seasoned commuter on Southern services to London Bridge, you might want to book off a particularly long Christmas holiday.
 
20 December 2014 – 4 January 2015:
  • Services will be completely shut down between Norwood Junction and London Bridge as well as Crystal Palace and London Bridge. So if you usually pass through Anerley, Penge West, Sydenham, Forest Hill, Honor Oak Park, Brockley or New Cross Gate on your way into the city, you’ll need to start looking for an alternative route – nearby London Overground stops could well be your best bet.
25 December 2014:
  • No Southern trains today. It’s Christmas.
27 December – 28 December 2014:
  • No trains north of Tulse Hill. That’s you North Dulwich, East Dulwich, Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham and South Bermondsey.
  • Replacement bus services will operate between London Bridge and West Croydon stations.
4 January 2015:
  • A new timetable will be in place for Southern services, with a number of changes to evening peak departures in particular. So you can travel to London Bridge once again, but your journey might not be irritant free. 

Southeastern

22 – 24 December 2014: 
  • Trains to Charing Cross station during morning peak hours will not stop at London Bridge between 07:54 and 09:01.
  • The 05:45 Dover to London Cannon Street and the 08:01 Orpington to Charing Cross services will be diverted to London Blackfriars, with an additional stop at Elephant & Castle.
  • The 06:55 Slade Green to Charing Cross service is diverted to London Cannon Street and won’t be stopping at Waterloo or Charing Cross.
  • Peak services between Ashford/Rochester and Bedford will operate only between Ashford/Rochester and London Blackfriars. If you’re travelling further, you’ll have to change at London Blackfriars.
  • Southeastern trains will call at London Bridge at all other times.
26 December 2014: 
  • On Boxing Day Southeastern will only be running the high speed service from Ashford International to St. Pancras every half an hour until the last train at 19:13.
27 – 28 December 2014:
  • Dartford to Slade Green stations will be closed, while Southeastern services will not call at New Cross or St. Johns.
4 January 2015:
  • No Southeastern services to or from London Victoria.
12 January 2015 – :
  • This is where the long-term inconvenience begins for Southeastern passengers.
  • Southeastern services to and from Charing Cross will not stop at London Bridge until August 2016. There will be some exceptions between January and May 2015 at the end of the day.
  • Services from New Cross, St. Johns, Deptford, Greenwich, Maze Hill and Westcombe Park will not run to and from Charing Cross or Waterloo.
  • Services to Plumstead, Woolwich Dockyard, Belvedere and Erith will also be diverted to and from London Cannon Street until August 2016.

Overground

20 December 2014 – 4 January 2015:

  • Expect busier platforms and carriages if you get on the Overground in South London during the morning peak, as Southern rail passengers go looking for an alternative route.
22 – 24 December 2014:
  • London Overground services will not run to and from New Cross during this time. Passengers can always take the dreaded rail replacement bus running between New Cross Surrey Quays and Canada Water if all else fails.
25 – 26 December 2014:
  • There will be no London Overground trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
27 – 28 December 2014:
  • Based between Surrey Quays and West Croydon? Or Crystal Palace or Clapham Junction? You’re out of luck – there will be no London Overground services on these days.
29 – 31 December 2014:
  • On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, London Overground will be operating a Saturday service.

 

Thameslink

20 December 2014 – 4 January 2015:

  • If you were thinking of commuting to London Bridge on Thameslink services over the Christmas period, think again.
  • No Thameslink services will call at London Bridge.
  • Instead, routed from Bedford to Brighton will travel via Blackfriars and East Croydon, extending the normal journey time by 15 minutes.
  • Services between Ashford/Rochester and Bedford will terminate at Blackfriars.
  • No Thameslink trains will stop at Redhill station between 22 December – 24 December and 29 December – 2 January 2015. 
  • If you’re going on holiday this Christmas, take note: There will be no trains from London Bridge to Gatwick or Luton airports. Instead you’ll have to travel from Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, St. Pancras or Victoria (which will only take you to Gatwick).
 
24 December 2014 – 2 January 2015:
  • Bedford to Brighton services could well get cosy as the service runs with fewer carriages.
5 January 2015 – January 2018:
  • For three years the Bedford to Brighton line will be diverted to Blackfriars and East Croydon, with occasional stops at Elephant & Castle, extending the journey through these stations by 12 minutes.
  • However, there will be a “very limited” morning and evening service from Brighton to London Bridge (expect cramped conditions here), as well as a half hourly service in off peak hours during the week as well as during the day on Saturday.
  • Thameslink trains to and from Luton Airport Parkway will not call at London Bridge.
  • Services between Ashford/Rochester and Bedford will terminate at Blackfriars.