Burst water main causes disruption to railway line
Trains were not able to run along the flooded line
At a glance
A burst water main brought trains to a standstill in Sheerness
Due to flooding, trains were not able to run through the station or on the line in either direction
Replacement buses were running in place of cancelled trains
- Published
A burst water main disrupted train services in parts of north Kent earlier.
Southeastern said the burst main in the Kemsley area resulted in a large amount of water flooding on to the Sheerness railway line, leaving trains unable to run through the station or on the line in either direction.
Services resumed later on Wednesday afternoon, Southeastern said.
Network Rail Kent & Sussex apologised to customers for the disruption.
Earlier, Paul Prentice, media relations manager for Southeastern, said: “Response staff are on site and will be working with the water company to stop the flooding."
Replacement buses were laid on between Sheerness-on-Sea station and Sittingbourne station in place of cancelled trains, Southeastern added.
In a post to X, external, formerly Twitter, Network Rail Kent & Sussex said it had switched off power to the railway through Kemsley while it worked with the local water authority to resolve the issue.
Southeastern later tweeted, external: "Services on the Sheerness line are now running to schedule. The first train from Sittingbourne to Sheerness is 14:53 and the first train from Sheerness to Sittingbourne is 15:17."
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Southern Water said its teams had been carrying out a repair at Groveshurst Road.
“We’re very sorry for the impact this is causing commuters in the area, we’re doing everything we can to fix the burst," the water firm said.
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