Thursday 27 Jun 2019
Kent and South East London rail passengers advised to plan ahead over weekends in July and August
- Region & Route:
- Southern
Services will be diverted to alternative London stations and buses will replace trains on some routes as Network Rail works to improve the railway as part of its £1.25bn Kent and South East London Railway Upgrade Plan
- On Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July and Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August there will be no Southeastern services to or from Cannon Street, London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross; there will be no Thameslink services between London Bridge and Dartford
- Most Southeastern services will run to or from London Victoria, but some Metro routes will start / terminate at New Cross and passengers will need to change trains at Lewisham to continue their journey to Central London
- People taking part in the Ride London FreeCycle event on Saturday 3 August are advised to make their way to dedicated cycle hubs (Led Rides) and avoid bringing cycles onto busy trains. More information is available at prudentialridelondon.co.uk
- On Sunday 21 July, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11, and Saturday 18 August Southeastern Cannon Street services will be diverted into Charing Cross
- The work is part of Network Rail’s five-year billion-pound Kent and South East London Railway Upgrade Plan.
Rail passengers in Kent and South East London are advised to plan ahead and allow more time for their journeys if travelling into London in July and August.
Over five consecutive weekends, Network Rail will be laying new track on the approach to Cannon Street station. Over the same weekends, engineers will be replacing track and equipment at North Kent East junction, one of the busiest railway junctions in the country, on the approach to London Bridge. The work will involve replacing ageing and increasingly fault prone equipment, with new, more reliable kit to help reduce delays for passengers.
The work is part of Network Rail’s five-year billion-pound upgrade plan to improve the reliability of the railway in Kent and South East London.
If you’re attending the Prudential Ride London events taking place over the 3rd and 4th of August, trains to and from London may be too busy to accommodate cycles. Led rides are being set up for the Saturday and you may find it easier to register for one of these, rather than try and bring your cycle onto busy trains. More information is available from the Ride London website here: https://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/events/freecycle/led-rides
Mark Morris, director of asset management at Network Rail South East, said: “Following the completion of a major £55m project to install new signalling equipment on the lines through Greenwich and Blackheath at Easter, our investment to improve the reliability of Kent and South East London’s railway is set to continue with this critical upgrade work on some of the busiest sections of the country’s rail network.
“I’d like to thank passengers for their patience as we work over these weekends. Trains to and from London will run, but they will be busier than usual. We encourage passengers to plan their journeys at nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator before travelling.
Ellie Burrows, Southeastern’s Train Services Director, added: “Above all, our passengers value punctual and reliable trains, so this investment from Network Rail on a key part of the railway will help ensure this crucial part of our network runs as smoothly as possible.”
More information on Network Rail’s Kent and South East London Railway Upgrade Plan can be found at www.networkrail.co.uk/KentRUP .
Notes to Editors
Five weekends of station diversions and alterations affecting Southeastern trains
Sunday July 21 - Cannon Street station closed
- Woolwich Line: Southeastern London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street via Greenwich & Sidcup services will not run. London Charing Cross to Dartford (via Woolwich) services are diverted to run via Bexleyheath
- Sidcup Line: Southeastern London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street via Sidcup & Greenwich services will not run. London Charing Cross to Gravesend via Sidcup services will stop additionally at Lewisham and will be retimed
- Hayes Line: Southeastern services will run from London Charing Cross instead of London Cannon Street
Buses replace trains between:
- Lewisham & Dartford via New Cross
- Greenwich & Woolwich
Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July - Cannon Street, London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross closed
- There will be no Southeastern services from London Charing Cross, London Waterloo East, London Cannon Street or London Bridge all weekend, and many routes will have fewer trains than normal.
- Most lines will run from London Victoria instead, but some Metro routes will start / terminate at New Cross and you will need to change trains at Lewisham on these lines to continue your journey to Central London.
- Thameslink’s Kentish Town – Rainham services will run only between Dartford and Rainham. Customers should use alternative Thameslink trains between Kentish Town and London Bridge, and/or London Underground, London Overground, London Buses, or Docklands Light Railway services to connect with Southeastern’s trains at New Cross or Woolwich, or replacement buses between Deptford and Charlton.
- Between Deptford and Dartford, customers should use Southeastern replacement buses and trains.
Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August - Cannon Street, London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross closed
- There will be no Southeastern services from London Charing Cross, London Waterloo East, London Cannon Street or London Bridge all weekend, and many routes will have fewer trains than normal.
- Most lines will run from London Victoria instead, but some Metro routes will start / terminate at New Cross and you will need to change trains at Lewisham on these lines to continue your journey to Central London.
- Thameslink’s Kentish Town – Rainham services will run only between Dartford and Rainham. Customers should use alternative Thameslink trains between Kentish Town and London Bridge, and/or London Underground, London Overground, London Buses, or Docklands Light Railway services to connect with Southeastern’s trains at New Cross or Woolwich, or replacement buses between Deptford and Charlton.
- Between Deptford and Dartford, customers should use Southeastern replacement buses and trains.
Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 August, Cannon Street station will be closed
- Woolwich Line: Southeastern London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street via Greenwich & Sidcup services will not run. London Charing Cross to Dartford (via Woolwich) services are diverted to run via Bexleyheath
- Thameslink trains between Kentish Town and Rainham will only operate between Dartford and Rainham. Thameslink customers are advised to use alternative Southeastern services between London Bridge and Dartford and other Thameslink services to cross central London.
- Sidcup Line: Southeastern London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street via Sidcup & Greenwich services will not run. London Charing Cross to Gravesend via Sidcup services will stop additionally at Lewisham and will be retimed
- Hayes Line: Southeastern services will run from London Charing Cross instead of London Cannon Street
Buses replace trains between:
- Lewisham & Dartford via New Cross
- Greenwich & Woolwich
Sunday 18 August - Cannon Street station closed
- Woolwich Line: Southeastern London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street via Greenwich & Sidcup services will not run. London Charing Cross to Dartford (via Woolwich) services are diverted to run via Bexleyheath
- Thameslink trains between Kentish Town and Rainham will only operate between Dartford and Rainham. Thameslink customers are advised to use alternative Southeastern services between London Bridge and Dartford and other Thameslink services to cross central London.
- Sidcup Line: Southeastern London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street via Sidcup & Greenwich services will not run. London Charing Cross to Gravesend via Sidcup services will stop additionally at Lewisham and will be retimed
- Hayes Line: Southeastern services will run from London Charing Cross instead of London Cannon Street
Buses replace trains between:
- Lewisham & Dartford via New Cross
- Greenwich & Woolwich
Speak to your train operators for more information on service changes or you can plan your journey using the National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - Ross Boyle
Senior communications manager
Network Rail
07730 354 480
Ross.Boyle@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
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