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Odd routing, Eastbourne to Horsham

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al78

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Today (Sunday 2nd May) I did a linear walk starting at Southease and finishing at Eastbourne and got the 6pm train to London Bridge aiming to get off at Three Bridges. The scrolling screen onboard said the train would go the direct route via Plumpton, but the onboard announcement said it was going via Brighton. It turned out the announcement was correct and it went to Brighton after leaving Lewes. This seems a rather roundabout route to get to London and I'm sure it didn't show that route when I initially looked up Eastbourne to Horsham train times on National Rail Enquiries. What was the reason for routing this service via Brighton? I've looked at the same route for next Sunday and it shows the direct via Plumpton route.
 
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JonathanH

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Seems to have been a short notice signalling problem as seen on this train which had a significant delay going via Brighton.

Trains were diverted away from the direct route between Wivelsfield and Lewes for around three hours between 4pm and 7pm.
 

al78

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Thanks for the info, makes sense something went wrong somewhere, the inconsistency between the scrolling screen and the onboard announcements suggested something like a diversion. It was like what they would do during engineering work but there was none scheduled on the route I was using. Lucky for me I got off at Gatwick to head back south given it was cancelled from then on.
 

al78

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was the announcement automated or a manual one?
There was an automated verbal one, the scrolling screen, and the driver (I think) came in to correct the automated one. E.g. the automated one said "The next station is Haywards Heath", the driver followed with "The next station is Wivelsfield".
 

Mark Reynolds

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Today (Sunday 2nd May) I did a linear walk starting at Southease and finishing at Eastbourne and got the 6pm train to London Bridge aiming to get off at Three Bridges. The scrolling screen onboard said the train would go the direct route via Plumpton, but the onboard announcement said it was going via Brighton. It turned out the announcement was correct and it went to Brighton after leaving Lewes. This seems a rather roundabout route to get to London and I'm sure it didn't show that route when I initially looked up Eastbourne to Horsham train times on National Rail Enquiries. What was the reason for routing this service via Brighton? I've looked at the same route for next Sunday and it shows the direct via Plumpton route.
Hm, that is quite interesting. Never in my 64 years have I seen such a thing, peculiar.
 

30907

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Hm, that is quite interesting. Never in my 64 years have I seen such a thing, peculiar.
Welcome! I assume you are referring to the diversion via Brighton - if so, it is a common variation during engineering works and only adds 10min or so to the journey (the OP's 1700 train which was much more heavily delayed after Brighton)
 
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