Train service returns after two-week tunnel works

Trains on a route in East Sussex and Kent are running normally again after a tunnel between Hastings and Rye was closed for two weeks.

Rail replacement buses and shuttle train services have been in place since 18 October due to works on the Ore tunnel.

Services were running again on Monday morning after what Network Rail described as "essential maintenance".

The works will improve the drainage in the 1,282m (4,206ft) tunnel as well as repairing the lining on the inside to stop water seeping through, Network Rail said.

Some of the track through the tunnel was also due to be replaced and parts of its Victorian brickwork was to be repaired.

Buses replaced trains between Hastings, Rye and Ashford International station in Kent, while on some days there was a shuttle train service between Rye and Ashford.

A Network Rail spokesperson said engineers had repaired brickwork and sprayed concrete along the inside of the tunnel, which was first in use in 1851.

They added: "The work will improve reliability for Southern passengers along the Marshlink route which connects Hastings with Ashford."

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