Railway line closes for five days after landslip

A railway route is closed for five days for emergency works due to a landslip, Network Rail has said.

The line between Redhill, in Surrey, and Tonbridge, in Kent, is closed until 1 November so works can take place to stabilise the railway near Godstone.

A speed restriction had been in place along the section of railway until the works can start.

Nad Campbell, project manager for Network Rail, apologised and said: "We know closing the line between Redhill and Tonbridge will frustrate passengers, and we have not taken this decision lightly."

During the closure, a 126m-stretch (138yd) of embankment will have 208 sheet piles and 10m-sheets (11yd) of metal installed to stabilise the area.

At the same time, engineers will be carrying out extra maintenance work on the tracks to help remove some of the speed restrictions in place.

Rail replacement buses will be in operation, and Network Rail warned that the car park at Redhill will also be partially closed to accommodate the replacement buses running between Redhill and Tonbridge.

The line had to be closed for two weeks in 2024 due to a landslip at the Bough Beech embankment.

Network Rail said that landslip was caused by "climate change", with winter in 2023 being one of the wettest on record.

Stations affected by the closure are Tonbridge, Leigh, Penshurst, Edenbridge, Godstone, Nutfield and Redhill.

Passengers travelling through Tonbridge are also being reminded no trains are running between the west Kent hub and Wadhurst, via Tunbridge Wells, due to upgrade works taking place.

Trains to London and Ashford remain unaffected.

Tom Easdown, Southern Railway's head of stations, said: "I appreciate how disruptive this closure will be to our customers between Redhill and Tonbridge, and I'm sorry for the impact this will have on journeys next week.

"We're working hard behind the scenes, with our colleagues at Network Rail, to keep people moving, including arranging bus services, ticket acceptance and all of the latest information will be available on our website."

Passengers are urged to check online before travelling and to allow extra time for their journeys.

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