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You may have seen our friends @Se_Railway and @TLRailUK explaining that there won't be trains between #Gillingham and #Sittingbourne tonight from 2100 (9pm) because of a landslip. Well, here's what it looked like from track level this morning.... /1
... the slip is in a cutting just outside #Newington station and was discovered when trees turned up closer to the track than expected. Here's the top end, and you can see the top layer of soil had given way and slid down towards the railway. /2
We kept trains running today at 20mph as the slip was in no danger of continuing onto the railway, but we're coming in early tonight to shore it up. That's why there's rail replacement buses and why you'll need to check before you travel this evening. /3
We're sorry for the disruption, but we hope you appreciate why we have to do the work. Incidentally, we're often asked why we don't like trees on cutting sides and this is a fine example of why that is - their weight is not good for steep slopes dug by Victorian engineers! /4
If you want to understand more about landslips and how climate change is giving us a major challenge in the South, this blog is a great place to start. It was written last year (the slips mentioned in it are now fixed) but the problem remains the same...: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-regions/southern/climate-change-and-southern-region/
