Barney Davis | Night News Editor
Published June 14, 2026 5:15pm
Updated June 14, 2026 5:17pm
Desperate holidaymakers have been queuing outside Gatwick Airport for hours after sinkholes near a railway bridge cancelled all trains to London.
Network Rail engineers discovered a ‘number of sinkholes’ close to a bridge during planned engineering work outside Purley.
Claiming it was ‘for the safety of passengers’, all lines between Purley and East Croydon were closed leaving holidaymakers scrambling for alternative ways to get to and from the major airport.
Some reported taxis charging as much as £250 to get to East Croydon as others queued for hours for replacement buses.
The operator said the line is expected to be out of action until at least until Monday morning and urged people not to travel.
‘We’re sorry to passengers who have been impacted by this and we’re working to safely open the railway as quickly as possible’, a statement said.
Southern Railway said there were no services between Purley and East Croydon and also urged customers not to travel.
The train operator warned there were limited alternative routes which will be ‘extremely busy’ with delays of 90 minutes or more.
Southern Rail’s latest travel advice
Southern services between London Bridge and Caterham are running as normal but may see some delays
Southern services from London Victoria towards Bognor Regis / Portsmouth Harbour will divert via Dorking (where possible) and will not run between Clapham Junction and Horsham
Southern services between London Victoria towards Ore / Littlehampton will only run as far as Haywards Heath so will be cancelled between London Victoria and Haywards Heath
Southern services between London Victoria and East Grinstead are running as normal but may see some delays
There is no service between Purley and Tattenham Corner
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