South East rail network to get £2.3bn investment

The new Rochester station will be nearer the town centre

Network Rail has assigned £2.3bn of investment to increase the number of seats available and improve stations in the South East.

The five-year programme will see signalling improved in the Medway towns in Kent, and on the Brighton mainline, near Balcombe, in West Sussex.

A new Rochester station will be built, allowing 12-car trains to stop.

An extra platform will be built at Redhill in Surrey and platforms will be lengthened in Uckfield, East Sussex.

There will also be improvements to speed up the line between Hastings in East Sussex and Ashford in Kent.

Network Rail's managing director for the South East, Dave Ward, said: "The growth we are managing now is phenomenal.

"Southeastern and Southern already run more than 2,000 trains each and every day. This has given us a real opportunity to improve the railway in Kent, Sussex and south-east London."