The wall of 1-ton bags of stone currently protecting the railway line near Newington.
The railway line between Sittingbourne and Gillingham will be closed for 15 days while Network Rail engineers tackle a 40 Metre landslip near Newington.
Network Rail engineers are preparing to tackle a 40 Metre long landslip that blocked the line at Newington, near Sittingbourne, earlier this week, with work set to begin on Sunday 24th January.
The slip closed the railway on Wednesday and Thursday, while a temporary fix was put in place to allow the line to open for two days. However, the scale of the problem meant a permanent solution had to be put in place as soon as possible, with design work, staff and equipment mobilisation already underway from Friday 22nd January 2021.
The line will close from the last train on Saturday night, 23rd January until the first train on Monday 8th February. This will mean no Southeastern trains will be able to run between Gillingham and Sittingbourne and Thameslink trains from London to Rainham will terminate one station early, at Gillingham.
Network Rail engineers are preparing to tackle a 40 Metre long landslip that blocked the line at Newington, near Sittingbourne, earlier this week, with work set to begin on Sunday 24th January.
The slip closed the railway on Wednesday and Thursday, while a temporary fix was put in place to allow the line to open for two days. However, the scale of the problem meant a permanent solution had to be put in place as soon as possible, with design work, staff and equipment mobilisation already underway from Friday 22nd January 2021.
The line will close from the last train on Saturday night, 23rd January until the first train on Monday 8th February. This will mean no Southeastern trains will be able to run between Gillingham and Sittingbourne and Thameslink trains from London to Rainham will terminate one station early, at Gillingham.
A bus replacement service will be provided.
The slip occurred on a section of railway built in 1858, where the line is cut 13M deep into the surrounding hill. After days of heavy rain, the top section of the cutting side gave way and slowly slipped downhill towards the track. Over 300 tons of spoil was removed before the line could be reopened and there’s still more to go.
The line is currently protected with a series of 1-ton bags of stone, which will be replaced with a 60 Metre wall of 12M steel sheet piles, sunk into the ground.
The slip occurred on a section of railway built in 1858, where the line is cut 13M deep into the surrounding hill. After days of heavy rain, the top section of the cutting side gave way and slowly slipped downhill towards the track. Over 300 tons of spoil was removed before the line could be reopened and there’s still more to go.
The line is currently protected with a series of 1-ton bags of stone, which will be replaced with a 60 Metre wall of 12M steel sheet piles, sunk into the ground.
Although the landslip is between Rainham and Sittingbourne, shutting the power to the live rail off through the area is not possible without including Rainham, so Thameslink trains will be unable to draw power and will be turning around at Gillingham. If it becomes possible to change this later in the week, Network Rail will do so.
Read more at >> http://bit.ly/3o93ZJJ
Follow Network Rail Kent and Sussex on Twitter for updates: https://twitter.com/NetworkRailSE
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