A car park next to Gravesend railway station has closed as work continues on a £19 million upgrade.

Rathmore Road car park has shut until January 13 as changes continue, which will include the station closing for 15 days over Christmas and the New Year.

Commuters can continue to use the station car park in Clive Road, or use Gravesham council’s car park in Parrock Street.

The multimillion-pound upgrade will allow longer 12-car trains to stop at the station, providing extra seats for passengers. A new footbridge with lifts is also being built, along with a third platform.

It will be a case of short-term pain for long-term gain for rail users, however, with the station closing for 15 days from December 22 to January 6.

Alternative travel arrangements will be put in place, including replacement bus services and free travel on some London Underground routes.

The building work, which is being funded by the government’s Access for All programme and Network Rail, should be completed by May. Access for All was launched in 2006 to try to tackle issues faced by disabled passengers using Britain’s rail network.

Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s route managing director for Kent, said: “Passengers are advised to check before they travel to find out how the work at Gravesend station will affect their journeys this Christmas and New Year.

“The work has been carefully planned at a traditionally quieter time of the year to keep disruption to a minimum – the impact would have been far greater had it taken place over many weekends throughout the year.

“I apologise for the disruption this essential upgrade will cause but can assure passengers that the end result will be a better station and that we are doing all we can to minimise the impact of the work as much possible.”

Alison Nolan, head of customer services for train operator Southeastern, apologised for putting passengers out but said the work was important.

She said: “This is a major £19 million investment to improve services for our passengers and increase capacity on our network. We’ve worked closely with Transport for London and Fastrack buses to provide a range of alternative journey options while the station work is under way, but we realise it will be an inconvenience. We’ve written to customers directly and shared all the alternative journey options on our website to give people as much advanced notice as possible to plan ahead.”

For information on the closure of Gravesend station see www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/gravesend