Lines have now reopened following a trespass incident between Hastings and Eastbourne / Tunbridge Wells.

While service recovers, trains may still be delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 17:45.

Customer Advice for Southeastern

How does this affect my journey?

Services will be subject to delays, and may end their journeys early whilst we work to get services running back on time.

What should I do?

Allow extra time to make your journey and check our journey planner for travel updates.

Alternative Routes:

For details of alternative routes that may be available to complete your journey, please refer to our Alternative routes during disruption maps which can be found here

How can I stay up to date?.

You can follow us on Twitter (X) @SE_Railway or follow the Southeastern WhatsApp channel.

Customer Advice for Southern

All lines have reopened between Hastings and Eastbourne and trains can begin to run on this route as usual.

Southern are working to return to scheduled timetables, but please continue to check journey planners and station information boards before you travel. Trains currently in the area will still be disrupted, and your journey may still take up to 20 minutes longer than usual.

You can use your ticket to travel at no extra cost on:

• Alternative Southern services on any reasonable route towards your destination
• Stagecoach buses between Eastbourne, Hastings, and Ashford International including routes:

- 11, 11a & 11b between Ashford International and Ham Street - 101, 100 between Rye and Hastings - 99 between Eastbourne and Rye

Please check journey planners and station information boards before you travel, and allow extra time to reach your destination.

Planning your journey:

To help you plan your journey, you can find alternative route maps on the Southern website here, and if you are travelling by Stagecoach services you can plan your journey on their website here.

Please check journey planners and station information boards before you travel, and allow extra time to reach your destination.

Live departure boards can be found here and you can check a live map here to see if your journey has been affected.

You can also use the Southern app to find up-to-date travel information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A trespass incident has been reported in the Hastings area earlier today.

In this case, Southern had to stop trains entirely, as it was not safe to run services past the person. Emergency services and Network Rail responders have attended to make sure the person was removed.

Trespassing on the railway is very dangerous. Trains run all day, every day - whether passenger trains, freight trains or specialist engineering work machines. It's not possible to be sure that you can hear when a train is coming, and in many cases, you won't see a train until it is very close to you.

In many areas, trains are powered by an electric third rail, which carries a dangerous electric current. There are also other electrical systems and cables, slippery surfaces, steep drops and other hazards.

As well as the dangers, trespassing on the railway is also illegal, and obstructing the railway can carry severe penalties.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.