Rail passengers are being reminded that trains between SE London and north Kent will be disrupted during the half-term holiday, with no services running through Dartford to allow £10 million of works to take place.

Southeastern Metro trains on the Woolwich, Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines will be diverted to either Barnehurst, Crayford or Slade Green for nine days from February 14-22, and some departure times may change. 

Thameslink trains through Greenwich will still run half-hourly, but will terminate at Plumstead.

Replacement buses will run between Slade Green and Gravesend, calling at all stations, while three separate services will also link Barnehurst, Crayford and Slade Green with Dartford. 

In north Kent, an hourly Thameslink shuttle will link Gravesend with Rainham while Southeastern’s high speed trains will run from Gravesend as normal.

The lines will also be closed this Saturday and Sunday for preparation work, and on March 8 and Easter Sunday, April 5, for follow-up work. Passengers are being warned to allow extra time for the journeys and to plan ahead. 

The closures are so the busy junction west of Dartford can be upgraded with new points and new track. The closed stations will be repainted with work carried out on the lifts at Dartford.

David Davidson, the chief operating officer at South Eastern Railway, said: “The work at Dartford Junction, where 650 trains pass every day, is a vital investment in the long-term resilience and efficiency of one of the busiest junctions of our network. We want to thank customers for their patience while we carry out this essential upgrade.

“We’ve deliberately chosen the half term to minimise disruption as schools are on holiday and fewer people are commuting. We will be making the most of the time available when trains are not running to carry out station refurbishments, including installing tactile paving at Dartford station to improve accessibility and safety.

“We understand that this will be disruptive and we’re working hard to ensure passengers are fully informed about the closure so that they can make their alternative travel arrangements. By doing the work over the February half term, we can fit everything we need to do into one nine-day closure. The alternative would be up to 30 weekends, which would be much more disruptive over a longer period.”

There is more information on the Network Rail website.

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