A stretch of railway wrecked after a freight train derailed in south London is set to reopen on Monday as engineers cleared 30 tonnes of sand by hand.
A 50-metre section and part of a junction needed to be completely rebuilt following the derailment near Lewisham on Tuesday when two locomotive wagons came off the tracks and shedded sand across the line.
The line was shut which sparked chaos for passengers travelling between London and Kent as engineers worked to fix the damaged track and remove 30 tonnes of sand.
On Friday, Network Rail and Southeastern said they hoped it would reopen on Monday but urged travellers to check before setting out on journeys.
Network Rail’s chief operating officer Andy Derbyshire said: “It has been a difficult week for passengers on our railway and I’m very conscious of how patient everyone has been while we repair the line.
“Our teams have been working around the clock to rebuild the damaged section and we are on target to get commuter trains running as normal on Monday morning.
“However, it’s a big job and we are advising commuters to check before they travel on Monday.”
David Statham, Managing Director at Southeastern, said: “We know the freight train derailment this week caused our passengers a great deal of inconvenience.
“We’ve done all we can to keep people moving, but the line closures heavily hit our services.
“Network Rail engineers have been working around the clock to get the freight train moved and the track fixed.
“Their hard work means the reopening of the railway is on target and this will allow us to run normal services again at the start of next week.
“I would to thank our passengers for their patience and ask them to please check before they travel on Monday morning.”
Police are investigating the circumstances of the derailment. No injuries were reported.
