📋 Tender Overview
Southeastern And Southern Passengers Are Being Reminded To Plan Ahead This October Half-Term If Travelling On The Hastings Line Between Tunbridge Wells And Hastings, And Between Bexhill-On-Sea And Hastings. Passengers Travelling Between Tunbridge Wells And Hastings And Between Bexhill And Hastings Are Advised To Plan Ahead As A Major Programme Of Improvement Work Takes Place Between Saturday 25 October And Sunday 2 November 2025. Buses Will Replace Southeastern Trains Between Tunbridge Wells And Hastings, And Southern Trains Between Bexhill And Hastings For All Nine Days. Engineers Will Use The Time To Deliver A Wide Range Of Essential Upgrades To Improve The Safety And Performance Of The Railway. David Davidson, Chief Operating Officer For The South Eastern Railway, Said: WeD Like To Thank Passengers For Their Patience While We Carry Out This Essential Work. WeVe Invested Significantly In The Hastings Line In Recent Years To Address Challenges That Go Back To The LineS Construction Over 170 Years Ago, And The Work We Are Doing At The End Of October Is Part Our Continued Commitment To Improving Journeys For Passengers. We Know That Closures Are Disruptive, And WeRe Doing Everything We Can To Keep People Moving With Replacement Buses And Clear Travel Information. In Addition, Our Integrated Railway Means We Can Also Take The Opportunity To Do Other Work, Including Refurbishing The Footbridge At West St Leonards Stations, At The Same Time To Further Minimise Future Disruption. We Know From Previous Experience That Carrying Out Work Over Consecutive Days Allows Us To Do More Work, More Efficiently And With Less Overall Impact On Our Customers. SouthernS Customer Service Director Jenny Saunders Said: The Line Between Eastbourne And Ashford Provides Important Connectivity For The Towns Along Its Route, And These Works Will Help Ensure The Infrastructure Stays Reliable For Years To Come. There Is Never A Good Time To Close The Railway, But We Will Have Plenty Of Staff, And Buses, To Help Passengers Complete Their Journey. Passengers Should Allow Extra Time For Their Journeys And Check Before They Travel Using National Rail Enquiries Or Their Train OperatorS Website. In Two Tunnels Near St Leonards Warrior Square Station, Brickwork Will Be Repaired And Drainage Upgraded To Stop Leaks Damaging Railway Equipment Within The Bo Peep And Hastings Tunnels. During This Time, The Footbridge At Nearby West St Leonards Station Will Also Be Refurbished Without Inconveniencing Customers. Nearly A Kilometre Of Old Rails, Sleepers And Ballast Will Be Replaced Between Etchingham Station And Mountfield Tunnel And The Ballast, The Stones That Form The Track Bed, Is Being Replaced Between Castle Bridge And Riverhall, Helping To Reduce Faults And Delays. At Frant Station And Wadhurst Tunnel, Engineers Will Improve Reliability By Refurbishing The Moveable Rails, Known As Switches, That Allow Trains To Change Path. The Track Circuits, The Part Of The Signalling System That Detects A TrainS Location, Will Also Be Replaced. Vegetation Will Be Cleared And Rock Anchors Added To The Cutting Slope On The Approaches To The Mountfield Tunnel. Between Strawberry Hill And Frant Station, And From Crowhurst Station To Mountfield Tunnel, Overgrown Vegetation Will Be Cleared To Keep Track Safe From Debris And Falling Trees. Alternative Travel Advice A Replacement Bus Service Will Operate Between Tunbridge Wells And Hastings, And Between Bexhill And Hastings. Ticket Acceptance At No Extra Cost Is Also Available For Southeastern Customers On The Following Routes. Full Details Of The Alternative Travel Advice Is Available On The Southeastern Website. Notes To Editors In Addition To The Nine-Day Closure, On The Two Weekends Before - Saturday 11 And Sunday 12 And Saturday 18 And Sunday 19 October, Buses Will Also Replace Trains Between Bexhill And Ashford International. There Will Also Be A Bus Replacement On The Southeastern Route As Follows: In Addition To The Nine-Day Closure, On The Two Weekends Before - Saturday 11 And Sunday 12 And Saturday 18 And Sunday 19 October, Buses Will Also Replace Trains Between Bexhill And Ashford International. There Will Also Be A Bus Replacement On The Southeastern Route As Follows: Passengers / Community Members Network Rail National Helpline 03457 11 41 41 Latest Travel Advice Please Journalists Paul Prentice Communications Manager 07354 529345 We Own, Operate And Develop BritainS Railway Infrastructure; ThatS 20,000 Miles Of , 30,000 And The Thousands Of , Level Crossings And Stations. We Run 20 Of The UkS Largest While All The Others, Over 2,500, Are Run By The CountryS . Usually, There Are Almost Five Million Journeys Made In The Uk And Over 600 Freight Trains Run On The Network. People Depend On BritainS Railway For Their Daily Commute, To Visit Friends And Loved Ones And To Get Them Home Safe Every Day. Our Role Is To Deliver , So We Carefully Manage And Deliver Thousands Of Projects Every Year That Form Part Of The , To Grow And Expand The NationS Railway Network To Respond To The Tremendous Growth And Demand The Railway Has Experienced - A Doubling Of Passenger Journeys Over The Past 20 Years. Follow Us On Twitter: Visit Our Online Newsroom:
