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Ashford and Kent rail passengers are advised to plan ahead and check before they travel over Christmas 2019, especially if travelling on Friday 27 December, as Network Rail works to improve the railway as part of record investment plans for the Kent network. 

Ewell West station in Surrey is now fully accessible after a new, £3.9 million footbridge opened on Friday 4 October.

• The scheme is open to anyone who will be aged 18 on or before 29 March 2020 with no upper age limit
• Three years of expert training and a lifetime of engineering possibilities
• Applications are now open, and the scheme starts in March 2020

• Millions of trees grow along the railway, dropping thousands of tonnes of leaves onto the tracks every autumn
• When trains pass over these leaves, the heat and weight of the trains bake them into a thin, slippery layer on the rail which is the railway’s equivalent of black ice
• Throughout the autumn and winter, our teams will work through the night to clear the tracks and keep them safe for trains

• Millions of trees grow along the railway, dropping thousands of tonnes of leaves onto the tracks every autumn
• When trains pass over these leaves, the heat and weight of the trains bake them into a thin, slippery layer on the rail which is the railway’s equivalent of black ice
• Throughout the autumn and winter, our teams will work through the night to clear the tracks and keep them safe for trains

• Funding will be used to clear lineside vegetation, reducing the number of leaves that fall on the line
• Nine specialist track cleaning trains will be deployed every day between October and December
• South Western Railway drivers are taking part in autumn training whilst an amended timetable is in operation from October 6 to December 14

Two projects which formed part of the £7bn government sponsored Thameslink Programme have been shortlisted for Exceptional Achievement Awards (EEA) by CEEQUAL.