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Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
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8 Feb, 8 tweets, 3 min read
Freezing conditions in Kent will continue to cause us a challenge tomorrow so we're working with Southeastern to keep as much of our railway in the county open as possible (see below) but there will be some changes. /1
Our winter treatment fleet is running across Kent tomorrow but because of the nature of the weather we are going to need to treat each track twice to provide the sort of resilience our passengers can rely on. This video shows you what the trains do ⬇️ /2
The live rail that powers trains can get iced up, and along with treatment trains laying anti-ice fluid, we also have heating strips at key locations. That's why we can keep all our Metro routes open and by concentrating our remaining fleet on the main lines in Kent... /3
... we can treat each live rail twice, after each forecast snow fall and freezing temperatures. Snow and ice treatment trains and multi-purpose vehicles like this one will be out across the network doing just that. /4
As an example of what can happen if we don't treat twice, we opened the Ashford to Tonbridge line this morning and it ran fine for a while, until it got so bad our mobile operations manager sent to a stuck train found their heated anti-icing fluid was freezing up on contact. /5
So, tomorrow (Tuesday) trains will be running across the network in Kent apart from:
Medway Valley line (Strood-Paddock Wood)
Sheppey Branch
Bromley North branch
We're making a decision on Tunbridge Wells- Hastings tonight based on getting our train fleet round the landslip. /6
We're really sorry for the ongoing disruption, and especially passengers on branches without trains. By concentrating our treatment trains, and @Se_Railway special anti-ice trains on the main lines, we can be sure we don't end up stranding essential workers on trains. /7
If you want to know more about what we do in snow and ice - check out networkrail.co.uk/running-the-ra…
Thank you and please follow @Se_Railway for travel information in Kent tomorrow.

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Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
5 Feb
As a result of movement in the track in the #Salfords area, we have a speed restriction in place affecting @Southern and @TLRailUK trains. The good news is the work can happen safely with the railway open and it will involve counterfort drains, anchor rods and bags of ballast /1
The counterfort drains are dug by excavators and lined and filled with gravel, essentially like big French drains so water can drain away quicker /2
Then the anchors are big steel rods which are inserted into the ground, but they have a head on them which hooks into the ground and then these are attached to the sheet pile wall to give even more stability /3
Read 5 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
5 Feb
We’re really sorry but we’re going to have to keep the railway between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells closed until Saturday 20 February, following a landslip near High Brooms.

You can find the full announcement here: networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/tunbridge…
Work was already planned for this area shown below, where two previous landslips had occurred.

This latest slip means it makes sense for our passengers and our neighbours to fix all 120 metres of the railway in one go, to make sure it is fit for the future.
Although the line will reopen on 20 February, work will need to continue on the site for some time so we will make sure our neighbours are kept informed and involved.

We will post further progress updates, pictures and videos here as we get them.
Read 4 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
21 Jan
🌧️ As you might expect given the horrendous conditions overnight, we have more news from #Newington landslip and it's not good. We're not going to manage to open the line today at all. Here's a statement from our director, Fiona, and a short thread (on top of the last one...).
We've removed 280 tons of spoil already, with more being loaded into a train all the time. Bags of ballast (stones) are being laid in a wall to protect the railway. However, the soil - a silty clay - is still moving. /2
It's a deep cutting, cut 13m down into the hills around #Newington , and the slip site is around 30m long, so it's not a small job to keep on top of. For us to be able to run trains safely we need to know that the soil is no longer moving and we're not there yet. /3
Read 6 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
20 Jan
🌧Unfortunately, our hopes of reopening the #Newington landslip early on Thursday have gone with the wind that's battering our team there. The best we can hope for is around 0900 and @Se_Railway + @TLRailUK are putting plans in place for passengers in the early morning. /1
This pic from the train collecting the spoil shows what our temporary solution to the slip looks like, and although we're confident we can get this done early tomorrow we aren't confident enough that it will totally stop the earth movement. /2
So we're going to monitor the site for a bit before trains run and open when we are sure it is safe. At the moment that's around 0900 but we would strongly advise passengers to check before they travel, as the weather is awful and the spoil at the site is saturated. /3
Read 5 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
20 Jan
🌧️ We're sorry to say that despite working through the night, the landslip at #Newington has defeated our best efforts and we won't be able to get the railway open again today. The rain has kept up and continues to soak the spoil, which slips as fast as we can cart it away. /1
We're bringing more equipment to site now,on top of the digger you can see here working overnight, to reach further back into the slip and remove the soil that keeps sliding towards the railway. /2
The good news is this is what geotechnical engineers call a "transitional failure" which is effectively the failed top layer of soil surfing downhill on the lower layer. That means once we cart the spoil away and put a row of ballast bags in place to protect the line... /3
Read 5 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
19 Jan
⚠️ You may have seen our friends @Se_Railway and @TLRailUK explaining that there won't be trains between #Gillingham and #Sittingbourne tonight from 2100 (9pm) because of a landslip. Well, here's what it looked like from track level this morning.... /1
... the slip is in a cutting just outside #Newington station and was discovered when trees turned up closer to the track than expected. Here's the top end, and you can see the top layer of soil had given way and slid down towards the railway. /2
We kept trains running today at 20mph as the slip was in no danger of continuing onto the railway, but we're coming in early tonight to shore it up. That's why there's rail replacement buses and why you'll need to check before you travel this evening. /3
Read 5 tweets

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