Hastings line reopens after nine-day Grove Hill Tunnel slab track renewal

Southeastern trains returned to the Hastings line on Monday 2 November after a nine-day closure in which Network Rail replaced worn slab track in Grove Hill Tunnel, just south of Tunbridge Wells.

Network Rail said the main job of the programme, which it described as running between Tonbridge and Wadhurst, was to renew the slab track and restore key railway systems in the tunnel. Slab track is fixed to a concrete base and strengthens and stabilises the railway in tunnels, the company said.

Engineers also used the closure to carry out track maintenance that removed three temporary speed restrictions: two between Crowhurst and Battle and one between Etchingham and Robertsbridge.

Scott Brightwell, South Eastern Railway's Director of Safety and Performance, said that by working together as an integrated railway, "we were able to go further than the work originally planned, arranging additional remedial track work at short notice that removed three temporary speed restrictions".

The speed restrictions

Network Rail said the restrictions were introduced as a precaution after the hottest and driest summer on record caused soil beneath sections of the track to dry out and shrink. The company explains on its website that in prolonged hot, dry weather clay soils under the railway can shrink and cause the track to move slightly, and that when the track becomes uneven it slows trains down for safety. It says the problem also occurs in East Anglia, Kent and Sussex.

The extra work was announced on 23 October, the day before the closure began. Network Rail said at the time that it would be completed without extending the line closure. In its completion release the company said recent rainfall had restored moisture to the embankments, allowing specialist teams to realign the track and lift the restrictions.

To reach the southern sections, the closure extended beyond the Tonbridge to Wadhurst stretch on its final day. Network Rail said buses replaced trains between Wadhurst and Hastings from 10.30pm on Saturday 31 October until 7am on Sunday 1 November, after which replacement buses ran between Tonbridge and Battle as the engineering work moved further south. Rail replacement buses ran between Tonbridge and Wadhurst throughout the closure.

Work along the line

Network Rail said teams completed further maintenance, renewals and inspections across the route during the nine days.

At Wadhurst, teams carried out maintenance and detailed inspections of the tunnel, portals and shafts. Near Stonegate, engineers checked earthworks, drainage and track conditions.

At Etchingham, teams installed new power equipment, repaired the station canopy and inspected nearby bridges and drainage. Around Robertsbridge and Mountfield, they replaced worn track components, inspected Mountfield Tunnel and surveyed the railway for future upgrades.

Mr Brightwell said the investment in the line would help provide a more reliable railway for passengers and freight customers across Kent and East Sussex.

Previous closures

The Grove Hill work follows earlier nine-day closures on the route. In April 2023 Network Rail replaced the 1970s track slab in Mountfield Tunnel, installing a new slab reinforced with four tonnes of metal bars and 900 metres of specially coated track designed for tunnel environments. That closure also saw nearly five kilometres of new track laid at Robertsbridge (2,160m) and Crowhurst (2,592m). Network Rail said at the time that about 100,000 customers travel on the Hastings line each week.

From 25 October to 2 November 2025 the line closed again between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings and between Hastings and Bexhill for brickwork and drainage upgrades in the Bo Peep and Hastings tunnels and track renewal between Etchingham and Mountfield.

The integrated railway

Mr Brightwell attributed the short-notice addition of the speed-restriction work to teams working together as an integrated railway. Network Rail said South Eastern Railway was formally stood up on 18 June 2025 and brings the publicly owned train operator Southeastern and Network Rail Kent Route under a single leadership team.

The Department for Transport, announcing the arrangement on 18 June 2025, described it as a significant milestone towards Great British Railways and said the team is overseen by Managing Director Steve White. Rail Minister Lord Hendy said: "Track and train are 2 sides of the same coin".

Southeastern's company information page describes South Eastern Railway as a contractual arrangement between Southeastern (SE Trains Limited) and Network Rail, with no accountabilities transferred. The operator says it runs over 1,700 trains a day and provided 135 million journeys in 2024.