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Thursday 24 Aug 2023

Passengers in Kent reminded to check before they travel ahead of August bank holiday engineering work taking place to improve reliability of the railway

Region & Route:

Southern

| Southern: Kent

Network Rail is reminding passengers to plan ahead as no train services will operate out of London Charing Cross and Waterloo East for the next two weekends.

Over the past two weekends (12 & 13, and 19 & 21 August), Network Rail’s engineers have been rebuilding a busy rail junction at New Cross which controls the movement of trains in and out of London Bridge station.

Five sets of switches and crossings – which are the moveable sections of track that guide trains from one track to another, like a junction – are being replaced as well as more the 1,000 yards of track, sleepers, and ballast.

The work is part of Network Rail’s ongoing investment to replace ageing 1980s rail infrastructure in Kent to improve reliability for passengers.

With this work continuing over these next two weekends, it means that most Southeastern trains will be diverted into London Victoria and London Blackfriars on:

• Saturday 26 to Monday 28 August (August bank holiday weekend)
• Saturday 2 to Sunday 3 September

Accessible replacement buses will run between Lewisham and Greenwich, calling at St Johns and New Cross.

Passengers can use their ticket on London Underground, at no extra charge, between London Victoria, Charing Cross, Embankment, Waterloo, Southwark, London Bridge, Cannon Street, Blackfriars and Elephant & Castle, and on the Docklands Light Railway between Lewisham and Greenwich.

David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: “Over the past four years, we’ve invested more than a billion pounds into the railway in Kent and South East London, replacing and upgrading 1980s infrastructure to improve reliability for passengers.

“That work continues with this investment at New Cross junction, a key location on the route into London Bridge, controlling the movement of hundreds of trains each day.

“Any incident on the route into London Bridge has a major impact on passengers and it’s vital that our infrastructure is as reliable as possible. This vital work will bring tangible benefits for passengers when complete and we'd like to thank passengers for their patience while we undertake these works."

Daniel Tall, head of the joint performance team for Southeastern, said: “We know that this work being undertaken by Network Rail is crucial in making the railway more reliable, but for a short period during August and early September, there will be an impact on customers’ journeys at weekends.

“Our message is to please check before you travel on the Southeastern app, our website or Twitter @Se_Railway, and allow more time for your journey on these weekends.”