Apologies if already mentioned elsewhere - I couldn't see anything on searching sensible keywords (e.g. station names ordered by date).
SouthEastern reported a landslip at Newington, between Rainham and Sittingbourne, on Friday. The unscheduled closure ran through the weekend, and has now been announced it will continue until 4th March.
Because of the location, and the fact that presumably some trains on these routes are stabled at Faversham, this has the knock-on effect that the Medway Towns has a significantly reduced service via the mainline to London - Chatham and Gillingham only have the hourly semi-fast to Victoria via Denmark Hill, whilst Rochester also has an hourly High Speed. All stations retain their regular Thameslink services, but we all know how painfully slow they are in comparison! I can see a number of travellers being peeved by that, and I don't think SouthEastern have explained why the service has been so heavily trimmed from west of the closure for people who don't know where trains and crew come from, especially when it would be easy to think they come from Gillingham.
The notification also seems to limit travellers from "Chatham line" stations travelling east to the "limited" rail replacement bus, as there is no explicit - or at least clearly worded permission - that tickets could be used via Ebbsfleet and Ashford - I'm not sure I'd understand the alternative route between London and Ramsgate that I could travel from, say, Chatham to Margate via Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Canterbury West. The replacement buses have not been loaded into journey planners/real time trains, so no journey opportunities are currently being offered.
SouthEastern reported a landslip at Newington, between Rainham and Sittingbourne, on Friday. The unscheduled closure ran through the weekend, and has now been announced it will continue until 4th March.
Service disruption | Southeastern
If you are travelling you can find out the latest information about our services and see if there are any disruptions that might affect you.
www.southeasternrailway.co.uk
On Friday 23 February a landslip was found in the Newington area.
Trains cannot run between Rainham and Sittingbourne.
Disruption is expected until 04:00 Monday 4 March.
What's happened?
A landslip occurred near Newington on Friday 23 February. Network Rail will be working over the next week to repair the embankment and the line and the line is expected to reopen on Monday 4 March.
How does this affect my journey?
Monday 26 February
The following trains will run on Monday 26 February;
These trains will run hourly, except during the morning rush hour when there will be two trains per hour between Rochester and London St Pancras International, and also between Gillingham and London Victoria.
- Gillingham to London Victoria via Denmark Hill
- Rochester to London St Pancras International
- Ramsgate to Sittingbourne
- Dover Priory to Sittingbourne
Our trains between Ramsgate, Dover, Faversham and the Medway Towns to London Cannon Street will not run, except for the following two trains which will run normally:
The journey planner for Monday has now been updated.
- 05:40 Gillingham to London Cannon Street
- 08:40 Gillingham to London Cannon Street
Tuesday 27 February to Friday 1 March We are working on our plans for the rest of the week and further details will appear here once these are in place.
What do I need to do?
For stations between Westgate-on-Sea and Sittingbourne you may travel on alternative services via Ramsgate / Dover Priory and return on another train towards London. Alternatively, you can also travel on services from London Victoria to Gillingham and connect with a replacement bus service.
You may use your ticket on the following alternative services at no extra charge:
- Southeastern highspeed services via Ashford (if you are travelling from stations between Sittingbourne and Ramsgate or have a valid highspeed ticket via Faversham)
- London Underground between our London terminal stations
- Thameslink between London St Pancras International and Rainham
- Fastrack Buses between Ebbsfleet International and Gravesend
If you do need to travel, and have no alternative options then we are running a limited bus service between Sittingbourne and Gillingham while the line is closed. Please allow additional time for your journey and we expect queuing arrangements to be in place at busy times.
Alternative routes
If you are travelling between London and Ramsgate (via Faversham), you can use the following alternative routes:
If you are travelling between London and Canterbury East / Dover Priory, you can use the following alternative routes:
- London Victoria - Gillingham services to connect with a replacement bus service between Gillingham and Sittingbourne. There is a special train service operating between Sittingbourne and Ramsgate calling all stations
- Thameslink services between London St Pancras International and Rainham, to connect with the above replacement bus service and special train service to Ramsgate
- London Charing Cross to Ramsgate services and change at Ramsgate for a train back towards Faversham and Sittingbourne
- Highspeed services via Ashford if you are travelling to / from stations between Sittingbourne and Ramsgate or have a valid highspeed ticket via Faversham
- London Victoria - Gillingham services to connect with a replacement bus service between Gillingham and Sittingbourne. There is a special train service operating between Faversham and Dover Priory calling all stations.
- Mainline services between London Charing Cross / London Bridge to Dover Priory and change at Dover for a train to Canterbury East
Because of the location, and the fact that presumably some trains on these routes are stabled at Faversham, this has the knock-on effect that the Medway Towns has a significantly reduced service via the mainline to London - Chatham and Gillingham only have the hourly semi-fast to Victoria via Denmark Hill, whilst Rochester also has an hourly High Speed. All stations retain their regular Thameslink services, but we all know how painfully slow they are in comparison! I can see a number of travellers being peeved by that, and I don't think SouthEastern have explained why the service has been so heavily trimmed from west of the closure for people who don't know where trains and crew come from, especially when it would be easy to think they come from Gillingham.
The notification also seems to limit travellers from "Chatham line" stations travelling east to the "limited" rail replacement bus, as there is no explicit - or at least clearly worded permission - that tickets could be used via Ebbsfleet and Ashford - I'm not sure I'd understand the alternative route between London and Ramsgate that I could travel from, say, Chatham to Margate via Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Canterbury West. The replacement buses have not been loaded into journey planners/real time trains, so no journey opportunities are currently being offered.