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Friday 27 Jan 2023

Passengers using the line between Faversham and Dover Priory via Canterbury East are reminded that buses will replace trains for eight days over the February half term

Region & Route:

Southern

| Southern: Kent

From Saturday 11 to Saturday 18 February Network Rail will carry out £3 million upgrades to protect the line from delays caused by landslips.

Work to stabilise cuttings will be carried out at Faversham, Selling, Aylesham, Snowdown, Shepherds Well and Bekesbourne. Thousands of tonnes of earth will be removed to reduce the steepness of the cuttings, and netting secured with rock anchors (6 metre long steel bolts), laid over the slopes to stop materials falling onto the tracks below.

At the Selling Tunnel, where the risk of a landslip is highest, a 30-metre reinforced concrete wall will be built at the bottom of the cutting to keep the railway safe.

Passengers will come back to brighter and better stations after the eight days of work as Network Rail takes the opportunity to deep clean and repaint stations along the line when they are closed to passengers.

In a boost for local biodiversity diseased and invasive trees will be removed. Areas around stations will be reseeded with native plants and wildflowers.

Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: “We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this essential work to prevent future landslips.

“The change in weather patterns means that we’re experiencing drier summers and much wetter winters, and this has a huge impact on a railway that was largely designed and built in the Victorian era when the understanding of construction materials and geology was less advanced than today.

“We constantly monitor embankments and cuttings to keep passengers safe, cautioning trains when sensors detect any movement, however, this has an impact on the punctuality of services.

“The work we are planning over February half-term provides a long-term solution to the risk of landslips on this section of track and allow trains to run at full speed and will also improve the reliability.”

Cuttings are where the tracks are cut deep into hillsides, and embankments were conversely built to carry the tracks across valleys – reducing the gradients trains have to face on their journeys. The line opened in 1860 when civil engineers knew much less about how steep to make their slopes and what materials to build embankments from.

Scott Brightwell, Southeastern's operations and safety director, said: “We’d like to thank our passengers for their patience while Network Rail carry out this essential work which will result in a more reliable train service. Passengers should check before they travel for replacement bus timetable information at southeasternrailway.co.uk and allow more time for their journeys.”

Travel advice:

Trains between London Victoria and Dover Priory will only run between London Victoria and Faversham. Rail replacement buses will run between:

• Faversham and Dover Priory (calling at Canterbury East only)
• Faversham and Canterbury East via Selling (minibus shuttle)
• Canterbury East and Dover Priory (calling at all stations)