UPDATE 10/3/2020: We’ve received official confirmation from Network Rail that the Redhill to Tonbridge Line will be reopening in full on the 16th of March! More info here.
Back in December a serious landslip occurred near Godstone on the Redhill to Tonbridge line which has resulted in the line’s partial closure for the past few months. Although a skeleton shuttle service has run between Edenbridge and Tonbridge during the week, this landslip has had a significant impact on all who use the line.
The end of the line, but not for much longer?
Image Credit: Network Rail
However, a return to normal service may now be in sight, and quite possibly sooner than expected. Official words from Network Rail and Southern have been that repairs are expected to be complete by the end of March. We’ve had recent confirmation from Southern however that the end of March is now very much a ‘worst case’ scenario, and that it is possible the line could be open much sooner. Although we’ve not had official confirmation as of yet, we believe that a normal train service between Redhill and Tonbridge may resume from Monday the 16th of March.
We must stress that at the moment this has not been officially confirmed. However, over the past few days there has been some confusion over services from the 16th of March, with journey planners only showing the replacement bus between Redhill and Edenbridge and not showing the shuttle train between Edenbridge and Tonbridge. This has now changed further and a full, normal, train service is now shown both in public-facing journey planners and rail industry systems as running from Monday the 16th of March.
This could be a planning error, however from what we can tell a deliberate change has been made to the planning systems to remove the replacement bus and shuttle train services, and restore the original train services. We’re eagerly awaiting further confirmation from Network Rail and Southern, and very much hope that after months of disruption users of the line may finally be able to return to normality.
As soon as we receive any further information, we’ll post an update. Again, this has yet to be officially confirmed but it’s looking like the end may finally be in sight – and quite possibly earlier than expected too!