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Monday 28 Aug 2017

Kent passengers urged to check before travelling on Tuesday as some additional trains diverted to and from London Blackfriars

Region & Route:

| Southern

Rail passengers in Kent are asked to check before travelling on Tuesday 29 August as trains which had been diverted to run into Waterloo while major improvement work is carried out in and around London Bridge will run to and from London Blackfriars instead. The number of trains running will not be affected.

This is to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from engineering works at Waterloo and gives Southeastern passengers full confidence in the service they can expect on Tuesday. Approximately 40 train services will be affected throughout the course of the day.

Travel advice to help passengers complete their onward journey is available on the Thameslink Programme travel tool at www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk/2017. Passengers can check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Andy Derbyshire, Network Rail’s chief operating officer in the South East, said: “We’re sorry for any inconvenience this change to people’s journeys may cause, but the most important thing is that people have confidence in the service we’re able to run during major improvement work at London Bridge as part of the Thameslink Programme.

“We’ve already made great progress since the start of our work on Saturday and everyone remains focussed on the job ahead. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding throughout the coming week as we work round the clock to improve and upgrade the railway in and around London Bridge.”

Ellie Burrows, Southeastern train services director, said: “We're now unable to run services to Waterloo as planned on Tuesday due to the major upgrade works. We have been instructed by Network Rail to run these trains to and from Blackfriars instead. Our passengers' tickets will be accepted on specific Tube and London buses to ensure a smooth onward journey. We will also have more Southeastern employees at stations to help our passengers.

"We would like to remind everyone to check before they travel and follow us on twitter @SE_railway and check our website for the latest information."

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend and four working days afterwards there will be significantly fewer trains into London as Network Rail continues to rebuild London Bridge station and the surrounding railway, as part of the Thameslink Programme. This is part of a £133m programme of investment that Network Rail will spend on upgrading the rail network across Britain this August.

During these eight days, there will be no Southeastern services to or from Charing Cross, Waterloo East and London Bridge. There will be an amended timetable for this period and those trains that do run will be extremely busy and will be diverted to alternative London stations including Victoria, Blackfriars, Waterloo and Cannon Street.