'An engineering feat': Why this key section of railway is closed

Tap to watch a video report from ITV News Meridian's James Dunham

Network Rail describes it as engineering feat, a two week project to stabilise three sections of Victorian railway embankment between Brighton and Hove.Until Saturday October 2nd 120 workers each day are working from up to 15 meters high to install rock bolts, soil nails and netting.All three interventions are designed to protect debris falling onto the tracks. In recent years landslides have led to significant delays for passengers on the network and climate change has made the chalk cutting incredibly vulnerable.Project manager, Tom McNamee says,"We've seen previously catastrophic failures of the embankment and that’s an unplanned failure, we have loose material fall onto the railway and that becomes a danger to trains and essentially we have to close the line in an unplanned, unexpected manor.

Damage from previous landslips is clear Credit:

"We really would like to thank our lineside neighbours, it is a massive inconvenience, we are using chainsaws and rock drills, loud and noisy equipment, right at the. Back of their properties for 14 days but we’re working closely with them and taking in all their concerns and considerations."If we were unable to do this work over 14 days we would have to do this over 12 weeks of night work and that would obviously have a bigger impact on the lives of people living here."

The work is causing disruption to travel Credit:

Traveling between Brighton and Hove? This is what you need to know

  • Trains between Brighton and London are unaffected

  • No trains will run directly between Brighton and Hove/stations towards Littlehampton

  • Trains will run to an amended timetable between Preston Park and Littlehampton and between Littlehampton and Portsmouth Harbour/Southampton Central

  • Southern passengers will need to change trains at Preston Park to travel to/from Brighton

  • Customers passengers between Portsmouth/Southampton and Brighton will need to change trains at Littlehampton and Preston Park

The project, which started on September 18th, means anyone having to travel between Brighton and Hove has to go via Preston Park instead while Great Western Railway trains along the South Coast have been terminating at Worthing.Project Manager, Nad Campbell explains the logistics surrounding the work…

The work on the cuttings will ensure they're protected from landslips for between 75 and 100 years.

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