Repaired railway tunnel to reopen

The Strood tunnel had been the scene of several chalk falls

Rail commuters who have been using a temporary bus service for a year while a tunnel was repaired have been told the disruption is coming to an end.

The two-mile Strood Tunnel in Kent was forced to close last January following a series of chalk falls.

Since then, passengers have endured an extra 30 minutes to journey times in each direction.

The tunnel will reopen on 17 January following a £35m project to re-line it with concrete and brick.

It will last for another couple of hundred years at least Jenny Sacre, Network Rail

The Strood Tunnel, which was originally built in 1824 and hand cut through chalk, was the scene of a major landslide in 1999 in which four carriages of a train were derailed.

A succession of smaller landslides then led to the introduction of a 20mph speed limit through the tunnel.

Jenny Sacre, from Network Rail, said although the "state-of-the-art" project had taken a long time, it would deliver "immediate benefits".

"The tunnel is now fully lined - part of it is brick lined, as it was originally, and the rest of it is concrete lined," she said.

"It will last for another couple of hundred years at least."

She added that the drainage system had also been improved and a new track laid.