Trains Suspended for Five Hours Between Strood and Paddock Wood After Person Hit by Train

Trains were suspended for more than five hours on the Medway Valley Line on Saturday after a person was hit by a train near Strood, with the closure cutting off a run of West Kent stations - including Snodland, Aylesford, Maidstone West and Paddock Wood - for much of the day.

According to National Rail's own incident log, the disruption was first reported at 8.28am and the line reopened at 1.52pm - just over five hours later. The emergency services had been dealing with an incident in which a person was hit by a train, with all lines between Strood and Maidstone West closed while they worked at the scene. National Rail says passengers should expect services to be delayed, altered or cancelled for a while after reopening, as the operator works to return to normal running. Source: National Rail

The closure hit the West Kent stretch of the Medway Valley Line - Snodland and Aylesford in Tonbridge & Malling, Maidstone West, and Tunbridge Wells borough's own Paddock Wood at the line's southern end, with some services also extending to Tonbridge. It came on the same weekend as a separate, planned nine-day closure of the Hastings line between Tonbridge and Wadhurst for track renewal work, making for a disrupted end to October half term for rail passengers across the borough.