Rail passengers face nightmare journeys today as vital engineering works have suspended some services.

Planned improvement work taking place on Sunday January 12 and Sunday January 26 in the Purley area has blocked the Brighton main line, but the landslide at Ockley means there is no direct route from London to Gatwick.

Passengers for coastal towns travelling from London Bridge must change at East Croydon for an East Grinstead service, where a replacement bus will travel to Three Bridges where there will be connecting trains to the coast.

Southern Railways will accept First Capital Connect tickets between East Croydon, London Bridge and London Victoria until further notice.

Journeys are expected to take much longer than usual and passengers have been advised to plan their route before they travel.