Railway lines reopen following engineering works

Railway lines in southern England have reopened after being closed during half-term to allow for key engineering works to take place.

Lines between Guildford/Petersfield and Havant, and all routes through Dartford in Kent, closed on 14 February to allow for upgrades to take place on the South Western Railway (SWR) and Southeastern routes.

On the route between Guildford and Havant, linking Surrey and Hampshire, drainage improvements were made to protect the railway from flooding, Network Rail said.

Other work included track renewals, signalling, power and telecoms work to support the safe operation of the route.

Follow-up work was also completed after a signalling upgrade between Farncombe and Petersfield.

In Kent, Dartford Junction, which Network Rail says is the busiest in the county, was upgraded to improve its reliability.

A programme of station improvements was also completed at stations with no services, including reducing the stepping distance from platforms to trains at Dartford and and new LED lighting and additional customer information screens to aid journey planning were installed at Northfleet.

Buses have been running instead of trains.

The works took place during school half-term as passenger numbers are "typically lower", Network Rail said.

The alternative was a series of weekend closures.

Follow-up works are planned for both routes, with passengers able to check how journeys will be affected on the National Rail website, or on the relevant operators' sites.

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