Your journeys will benefit from vital upgrades across south London, east Kent and east Sussex this Easter bank holiday.
Upgrading signalling in south London
we’ll continue our rebuild of a busy railway junction at Battersea between Friday 18 and Monday 21 April. This will involve installing about 600 metres of new signalling and telecommunications cables. We’ll also lay 600 metres of track and 1,200 metres of new conductor rail that powers trains from below.
We must rebuild the junction because the switches and crossings – the moveable section of track that allow trains to switch from one line to another – have come to the end of their working life. The rebuild will help keep journeys moving smoothly.
Teams will also install a new signalling system at Lewisham. This is part of a wider £90m programme of work to renew the signalling in the area, from New Cross to Blackheath and Hither Green. The new equipment will be easier to maintain, fix and find faults when something does go wrong – meaning fewer faults and delays for you.
What are signals and how do they keep you safe? Find out.
Landslip prevention
Further south, we’ll strengthen the slope of the cutting in Chislet in Kent. Engineers will install a 160-metre-wide sheet pile wall to the slope to help prevent soil from sliding onto the track.
Increased rainfall in the past few years means the cutting is unlikely to withstand another wet winter. So, this work is vital to help prevent landslips and keep your trains running safely.
Vital maintenance in east Sussex and Kent
Elsewhere, engineers will lay over 5,000 metres of new track between Eastbourne and Hastings in Sussex. We’ll also renew the one and a half mile-long track on the Bromley North branch line that connects Bromley to south London.
Renewing track is an essential part of our maintenance work to keep trains running smoothly. Read about track and how we look after it.
We’ll also install a new level crossing at Pevensey in Wealden. This will involve installing 150 tonnes of new ballast – or the stones that support the track – 160 metres of new rail, 120 concrete sleepers and painting new road markings. It will help us keep your journeys running smoothly and rail and road users safe.
Check before you travel
We must shut sections of the railway across south London, east Kent and east Sussex during this time to allow our engineers safe access for the work.
David Davidson, route director for Kent at Network Rail, said: “Doing this work over the Easter work means we can keep the railway open for longer, and fewer weekend closures would be needed in the near future.”
Please check before you travel with nationalrail.co.uk or your train operator and plan ahead where possible.
