Network Rail will carry out vital track upgrades in Rochester and essential line repairs in South London over the late May bank holiday weekend from Saturday the 27th to Monday the 29th of May.
Passengers travelling in Kent are advised to check their travel plans ahead of making a journey, as buses will replace some train services.
Work will see engineers replace two sets of switches and crossings, which allow trains to move from track to track.
Further to this, work will also be undertaken to replace 300m of life-expired sleepers and rail and old ballast replaced at Rochester Bridge Junction, which runs over the Victorian railway arches alongside the A2 and Canal Road at the Strood end of Rochester Bridge.
Both vital upgrade projects will support more reliable journeys for passengers using the Chatham and North Kent lines into the future.
Journeys will see rail replacement buses in operation during the period of work for Southeastern train services travelling between:
- Meopham and Gillingham calling at all stations except Sole Street
- Gravesend and Gillingham calling at all stations except Higham
- Gravesend and Maidstone West calling at all stations
South East London line will also see track maintenance work carried out on Sunday the 28th of May, which will see no trains operating into either London Waterloo East or London Charing Cross.
During this time, rail replacement buses will operate between the following stations:
- Lewisham and Orpington
- Lewisham and Dartford via Sidcup.
Monday the 29th of May will also see buses replace trains between Rochester and Strood.
Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: “We’d like to thank passengers for their patience whilst we carry out these important works over the weekend. Works are being undertaken while customer numbers are lower during the late May bank holiday to minimise disruption.”
“The majority of the route will be open as usual for people to travel but we’re just asking passengers to plan ahead and check journeys in advance.”
Scott Brightwell, Southeastern’s operations and safety director, said: “We know that there’s never a good time to close parts of the railway, but the work being undertaken by Network Rail does ensure that the railway on this part of our network is more reliable for our customers.”
“We’d encourage our customers to plan their journeys if travelling in the Medway area or into London’s West End this weekend, by visiting our website or contacting us through Twitter @Se_Railway.”
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