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'Long-term gain' promised as tunnel track replaced

Claire Starr,in Tunbridge Wellsand
Tanya Gupta,South East
BBC An interior view of a brick-lined railway tunnel shows two railway workers standing on separate tracks. Temporary lighting is attached to the tunnel walls, with cables and engineering equipment running alongside the rails. Additional workers can be seen in the distance near the tunnel entrance.BBC
The track is being renewed inside the tunnel near Tunbridge Wells

Engineers 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.

A railway worker in orange high-visibility clothing, safety helmet and protective eyewear stands beside railway tracks near the entrance to a brick-lined tunnel. Engineering equipment, rails and other workers are visible in the background, with work taking place on the line leading into the tunnel.
Mal Leadbetter said there would be less disruption in the future

"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.

Railway engineering work is taking place at the entrance to a brick-lined tunnel. A large yellow rail-mounted excavator stands on the track beside workers in orange high-visibility clothing. Construction equipment, materials and partially renewed track are visible in the foreground, while temporary lighting can be seen running through the tunnel.
The line has been closed for nine days while the work is carried out

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.

Four railway workers in orange high-visibility clothing and safety helmets install track components on a railway line. The rails sit on a reinforced concrete base with exposed steel mesh, while construction materials, tools and cables are visible around the work area. Vegetation, a retaining wall and railway infrastructure can be seen in the background.
Network Rail said teams were working 24/7 to carry out the work

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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