Passengers travelling on Southern and Southeastern over the October half-term are being reminded to check before they travel on the Hastings Line.

Those travelling between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings and between Bexhill and Hastings can expect services to be disrupted during a series of works taking place.

From the 25th October to the 2nd November, Network Rail will be repairing brickwork and drainage at two tunnels near St Leonards, and a kilometre of old rails, sleepers, and ballast will be replaced between Etchingham station and Mountfield tunnel and between Castle Bridge and Riverhall.

Numerous other aspects of work will take place, including vegetation management.

The work will see buses replace trains for all 9 days, with further information available on both Southeastern and Southern’s websites.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this essential work.

“We’ve invested significantly in the Hastings line in recent years to address challenges that go back to the line’s construction over 170 years ago, and the work we are doing at the end of October is part our continued commitment to improving journeys for passengers.

“We know that closures are disruptive, and we’re doing everything we can to keep people moving with replacement buses and clear travel information. In addition, our integrated railway means we can also take the opportunity to do other work, including refurbishing the footbridge at West St Leonards stations, at the same time to further minimise future disruption.

“We know from previous experience that carrying out work over consecutive days allows us to do more work, more efficiently and with less overall impact on our customers.”

David Davidson, chief operating officer for the South Eastern Railway