Redhill to Tonbridge Line Reopens After Five-Day Emergency Repair Near Godstone

Train services between Redhill and Tonbridge resumed on Sunday, after Network Rail engineers finished emergency work to stabilise the moving embankment near Godstone that forced the closure we reported on in late October.

Over the closure, engineers installed all 208 of the planned steel sheet piles - each 10 metres long - along the 126-metre stretch of embankment, driving them into the ground to stop it moving further and threatening the track above. Network Rail says the closure was deliberately timed to fall during the school half term, to limit the impact on local families. While the line was shut, crews also used the opportunity to carry out additional track maintenance, removing some of the speed restrictions that had been slowing trains on the route.

When the closure was first announced, Network Rail said the line would reopen on Sunday 1 November. In the event, it stayed shut one day longer: Network Rail's own update on the completed work gives the closure as running from Wednesday 28 October to Sunday 2 November, with rail replacement buses covering the route between Redhill and Tonbridge throughout.

Nad Campbell, Network Rail's project manager for the works, said: "I'd like to thank passengers, and the local community, for their patience and understanding while we carried out these essential repairs to the railway. Engineers worked day and night to carry out these vital repairs and prevent a longer closure." Southern's Head of Stations, Tom Easdown, added: "We're sorry for the disruption caused by this essential work, and I thank our customers for their patience and understanding. We're really pleased to have restored services for customers and the local community."

Source: Network Rail media centre