{"id":258107,"date":"2025-07-28T18:48:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=180438"},"modified":"2025-07-28T18:48:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:48:00","slug":"trains-running-through-the-blackheath-tunnel-again-following-pioneering-repair-work-to-boost-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=258107","title":{"rendered":"Trains running through the Blackheath tunnel again following pioneering repair work to boost performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/railuk.com\/infrastructure\/trains-running-through-the-blackheath-tunnel-again-following-pioneering-repair-work-to-boost-performance\/\" title=\"Trains running through the Blackheath tunnel again following pioneering repair work to boost performance\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"485\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/28094116\/blackheath-485x360.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;max-width: 100%;\" link_thumbnail=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/28094116\/blackheath-485x360.jpg 485w, https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/28094116\/blackheath-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 485px) 100vw, 485px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>10-week programme of essential repairs on 175-year old Victorian structure comes to an end as trains between Blackheath and Charlton stations resume.<\/p>\n<p>The South Eastern Railway has completed a 10-week programme of essential repairs in the historic Blackheath tunnel between Charlton and Blackheath stations that will help to improve reliability and safety for passengers.<\/p>\n<p>Services return to the normal timetable from today along the Woolwich and Bexleyheath routes following the re-opening. There will be two trains per hour to Cannon Street via Charlton and Blackheath stations, which previously ran via Greenwich when the tunnel was closed.<\/p>\n<p>The 175-year old Victoria-era tunnel has undergone a pioneering strengthening and waterproofing process, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK and potentially the world.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-wistia-inc wp-block-embed-wistia-inc\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Blackheath Tunnel repairs Video\" src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.net\/embed\/iframe\/9pgmywtm16?dnt=1#?secret=V5Qw9Pg2HO\" data-secret=\"V5Qw9Pg2HO\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Engineers injected expansive grout into the pockets of sand and gravel surrounding the tunnel to strengthen the ground. This innovative technique knits and compresses the loose material tightly together.<\/p>\n<p>A further layer of grout was applied to the back of the tunnel lining to waterproof the worst-affected areas, helping to preserve the brickwork and track, signalling, and other railway equipment in the tunnel for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>The techniques trialled and used successfully in the Blackheath tunnel during this closure will now be replicated across other parts of the rail network.<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Davidson, chief operating officer for the South Eastern Railway, said:&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cOver the last 10-weeks we\u2019ve completed a groundbreaking programme in the tunnel that will improve reliability by strengthening and waterproofing the structure to better protect the railway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSavings from this approach are estimated to be around \u00a310 million and this can be reinvested across the network to deliver more improvements that will keep passengers moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast summer our engineers cleaned soot from the tunnel lining, carried out detailed surveys and replaced thousands of bricks to stop water getting in. This year we\u2019ve installed a new tunnel lining, rebuilt drainage systems and completed essential track work, including the removal of the waterlogged sections known as \u2018wet beds\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to thank our customers for bearing with us while the tunnel was closed for this work to deliver better journeys.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Engineering by numbers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1,000 core holes drilled, stretching 900 metres \u2013 three times the height of The Shard or the length of Greenwich Park<\/li>\n<li>4,000 injection tubes installed, totalling 13 kilometres \u2013 enough to reach from Blackheath tunnel to London Zoo<\/li>\n<li>55 tonnes of grout used \u2013 equivalent to the volume of two swimming pools<\/li>\n<li>Tunnel monitoring system detects movement to 0.01 millimetres \u2013 less than the thickness of a human hair<\/li>\n<li>Peak workforce of over 100 people working day and night<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/railuk.com\/infrastructure\/trains-running-through-the-blackheath-tunnel-again-following-pioneering-repair-work-to-boost-performance\/\" title=\"Trains running through the Blackheath tunnel again following pioneering repair work to boost performance\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"485\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/28094116\/blackheath-485x360.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"><\/a>10-week programme of essential repairs on 175-year old Victorian structure comes to an end as trains between Blackheath and Charlton stations resume. The South Eastern Railway has completed a 10-week programme of essential repairs in the historic Blackheath tunnel between Charlton and Blackheath stations that will help to improve reliability and safety for passengers. Services [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16013,343,47,16148,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-infrastructure","category-rail-news","category-rail-projects","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258107"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258127,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258107\/revisions\/258127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}