Kent and Sussex railway upgrades completed over Bank Holiday

Network Rail has completed a total of six upgrade projects in Kent and Sussex.

The main purpose of the works was to renew life-expired infrastructure and prevent possible future landslides from causing disruption to train services.

One of the jobs took place near West Sutton station, where cutting was a re-instated. This was to replace a sheet pile wall which was installed to prevent soil and other debris falling on the track from the garden of a resident living beside the line.

Near Otford, located in Kent, Network Rail engineers finished installing a public footbridge. The footbridge will benefit walkers as it links sections of the Pilgrim Way, a historical route which stretches from Winchester in Hampshire to Canterbury in Kent.

Moreover, this footbridge enables the nearby pedestrian level crossing to be blocked off.

As level crossings are often the location of ‘near misses', Network Rail are keen to improve line safety across the nation by replacing crossings with bridges.

Meanwhile, vegetation was removed from the line between Havant Junction and Barnham.

Here, the engineering team also checked the track and lineside infrastructure for issues as part of a regular maintenance inspection.

Network Rail believes that all these works will ultimately lead to smoother train journeys for passengers, while also benefitting those living close to the railway.

The nation's railway infrastructure operator and owner completed improvement works at Bletchingley Tunnel over the long weekend too.

The tunnel, which is situated between the Surrey villages of Nutfield and Godstone, was built back in 1842 and is 1,327 yards long.

Inspection and repair work therefore sometimes requires engineers to abseil.

All the infrastructure upgrades were completed without falling behind schedule.

Our engineers worked hard across a number of sites over the long weekend to complete a range of important maintenance and upgrades to keep the railway running safely and reliably.

We were able to complete a large amount of work simultaneously, which was far less disruptive to passengers than it would have been at any other time. I'd like to thank people for their patience and understanding while we did this work.

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail's Sussex route director