Southeastern is reminding its customers that train services will wind down much earlier than usual on Christmas Eve because of industrial action by the RMT union, and the need to extend the line closures for Network Rail to carry out essential engineering work in the Lewisham area – a £10.5 million project that cannot be delayed.
Completing this work on our track means that there will be fewer infrastructure failures and fewer delays for customers in the future.
This means that on Saturday December 24th:
- The last trains from London will be from 12:00 midday with all trains finished by 15:00
- There will be no trains at all on the Bexleyheath line and on the Sidcup line because of the track renewal work at Lewisham.
As the 10-day Bexleyheath line closure was scheduled earlier this year a replacement bus service will be operating from New Cross to Dartford via Bexleyheath.
Due to the short notice of the Sidcup line closure, a replacement bus service is not available between Crayford and Lewisham. Customers will be able to use their tickets on London Buses routes at no extra charge during the closure.
Separately, on Tuesday December 27th services across the Southeastern network can’t start until 12:00. The Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines will remain closed for the whole day, with replacement buses available between New Cross and Dartford via Bexleyheath.
Customers can claim for Delay Repay refunds if their journey is delayed by more than 15 minutes.
Scott Brightwell, Southeastern’s Operations and Safety Director said:
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience that this industrial action by the RMT has caused.
It is good to see that scheduled engineering work by Network Rail will proceed at Lewisham investing £10.5m to replace life expired track and reduce delays in this key part of our network.
“We regret that an earlier shutdown on Christmas Eve is required due to the RMT strike action, meaning that customers who need to travel by train should make their plans now. Train services are expected to be extremely busy on the routes that are running, and so we’d advise our customers to make their journeys earlier if they can.
“A much later start up will apply on the day after Boxing Day – with some routes staying closed altogether to allow Network Rail to complete its essential work in the Lewisham area. Our strong advice is to check before you travel.”
Journey planners at www.southeasternrailway.co.uk and www.nationalrail.co.uk will be updated on Tuesday 20th December (for Saturday 24th December - Christmas Eve) and Thursday 22nd December (for Tuesday 27th December), as well as on the Southeastern app.
