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Monday 14 Mar 2016

Passengers encouraged to check before they travel after landslip hits Sussex railway

Region & Route:

| Southern

Passengers are being advised to check before they travel this week after a landslip damaged the railway between Eastbourne and Lewes, in Sussex.

Trains are still running on the route, but are subject to a 5mph speed restriction through the site for safety reasons. While this restriction allows trains to continue to run, it does mean that services have had to be amended to avoid delaying other trains.

The slip, between Glynde and Berwick, near Ripe, is being monitored by Network Rail engineers, who are also carrying out tests on the line to investigate the cause and plan repairs. Train services on the line are operated by Southern.

Network Rail’s geotechnical manager for the South East, Derek Butcher, said: “We are watching this site closely and working on a timescale and a plan for repairs.

“We estimate that the section we will need to repair will be 100 metres long, and in order to do that kind of heavy repair work, we will also need to build a temporary road to allow our engineering equipment to access the railway.

“Once we have that in place, we can begin the work to bring the railway back up to full speed. We appreciate everyone’s patience while this goes on.”

Network Rail staff are digging bore holes into the railway to look deeper into the embankment, which dates from the construction of the line in 1846, and planning repairs.

It is likely that the speed restriction will remain in place for at least the rest of this week until a definitive timescale can be put in place.

Passengers can check train times with operator Southern at www.southernrailway.com or at www.NationalRail.co.uk