Overview
- A Southern passenger train derailed on Thursday, August 13, with three carriages sliding part‑way down an embankment and two people left with serious but non‑life‑threatening injuries while other passengers received hospital treatment.
- The Rail Accident Investigation Branch completed on‑site evidence gathering and handed the scene to Network Rail, and RAIB’s formal investigation into the cause is continuing off site.
- Network Rail is preparing two 125‑tonne rail‑mounted cranes to lift the carriages from a river‑side embankment that lies inside a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest and has only limited road access.
- The Lewes–Haywards Heath line will remain closed for at least ten days, with rail replacement buses running between Lewes and Haywards Heath (calling at Cooksbridge and Plumpton) and alternative tickets accepted on other operators, while passengers are advised to travel via Brighton where possible.
- Only after the carriages are removed will engineers be able to assess the full extent of track and infrastructure damage and set a timetable for reopening, a process that will continue to disrupt local travel and place extra demand on nearby services and roads.