Key tunnel used by thousands of commuters every week to close for 10 weeks for £10m upgrade after ‘repeated faults’
COMMUTERS are being warned to plan ahead as a major tunnel is set to close for 10 weeks due to repair works.
Train journeys are expected to be disrupted from this Sunday May 18 until Sunday July 27, as work begins on the £10 million upgrade.
The Blackheath tunnel’s planned closure will affect passengers in south-east London travelling between Blackheath and Charlton.
From Sunday, train services will be diverted via Greenwich and Bexleyheath for Network Rail to carry out their “essential repairs” on the 175-year-old Victorian structure.
The closure comes on the same day as timetable changes are set for the Southeastern rail, so passengers are reminded to keep up to date with different services.
Tunnel repair work will include replacing thousands of bricks and installing a new tunnel lining to stop water leaks, rebuilding the drainage systems, removal of ‘wet beds’ and waterlogged sections of the track.
This work on the one-mile tunnel is said to mean less faults and delays for passengers in the long-term, as well as improve bumpy sections that passengers experience on the track.
Around 1,000 minutes of delays are reported to have occurred for Southeastern passengers last year.
Speaking for the Southeastern-Network Rail Alliance, Network Rail’s Kent route director David Davidson said: “We know there’s never a good time to close the railway, and that changes to services for a 10-week period is a long time.
“These essential repairs will improve the safety and operation of the tunnel.
“We are carrying out the repairs over a series of 10-week closures because working in cramped and narrow tunnels is incredibly difficult.”
Extra routes will also run on the Woolwich line for connections to the Docklands Light Railway and Elizabeth line, as well as extra services on the Bexleyheath line.
Around 3,500 passengers per week are estimated to travel between Lewisham and Abbey Wood through the Blackheath tunnel.
This closure follows another 10-week shut down which occurred last year, where engineers cleaned soot from the tunnel lining, conducted detailed surveys, and replaced thousands of bricks.
It also comes just days after a power outage struck London underground passengers in the south-west on Monday.
Passengers on the Bakerloo, Waterloo and City lines were impacted as the lines were suspended, and no trains between London Bridge and Finchley Road on the Jubilee line were in operation.