'Long-term gain' promised as tunnel track replaced
BBCEngineers are working around the clock to replace the specialist track in a railway tunnel in nine days.
Services between Tonbridge and Wadhurst have been suspended since Saturday, with replacement buses operating for passengers.
Southeastern spokesman Tom Moore said the closure over the school holiday was "short-term pain for longer-term gain", adding that the only alternative would have involved closures over multiple weekends.
Mal Leadbetter, programme manager at Network Rail, said renewing the track through Grove Hill Tunnel would lead to less maintenance and less disruption in the future. The line is expected to reopen on Monday.
Workers are renewing specialist slab track through the tunnel, south of Tunbridge Wells.
Unlike conventional railway track, which sits on sleepers supported by ballast, slab track uses rails fixed to a reinforced concrete track base. It is used in tunnels to strengthen the structure and provide stability.
"Working here, we have anything between 50 and 80 people per shift, working 24/7 on an eight-hour shift rotation," Leadbetter said.
"The British railway is old, it's Victorian, it needs maintenance, it needs renewal."
Passengers would notice less disruption after the work was completed, he added.
He said the new track being laid should have about a 50-year life span.
Teams are also carrying out maintenance and examinations of the Wadhurst and Mountfield tunnels.
Earthworks are being carried out near Stonegate, and a power supply upgrade is taking place at Etchingham.
Southeastern has said some speed restrictions that were put in place during hot weather will be removed.
The rail operator said hot weather caused soil to dry out and shrink under tracks, but rainfall had restored moisture to the embankments so that engineers could realign tracks and remove speed restrictions.
Margareta Hills, environmental and sustainability lead at Southeastern, said: "Weather is already presenting significant challenges for the railway, and with the changing climate we're likely to see some of these challenges more amplified.
"Obviously, we're working very hard to respond to this new emerging risk and prepare better."
She said that the aim was to keep connecting communities in a "reliable and safe manner".
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