Rail passengers are bracing themselves for 10 days of travel disruption throughout the Christmas period, starting this weekend.

No Southeastern services have been running between Kent and London Victoria since yesterday (December 23) due to engineering work.

Victoria services will be diverted for 10 consecutive days until Monday, January 1 as the line between Herne Hill, Brixton and Victoria closes, along with Brixton station.

People will instead be diverted to London Cannon Street, Blackfriars and Charing Cross.

Routes between London Victoria and Ramsgate, Dover Priory, Gillingham, Ashford International, Maidstone East and Dartford will be affected.

Work is taking place as part of London Victoria's re-signalling programme.

It means trains between Victoria and Ramsgate and Dover Priory, via Chatham, will instead run from Cannon Street.

They will operate non-stop between London Bridge and St Mary Cray and Swanley.

Meanwhile, stopping services between Victoria and Gillingham will not run.

Trains between Victoria and Ashford International, via Maidstone East, will operate from Charing Cross and run non-stop between London Bridge and St Mary Cray.

Services between Victoria and Dartford, via Bexleyheath, will also not go ahead.

Passengers wishing to travel between Victoria and Orpington will instead need to use Blackfriars, with additional trains being offered between Blackfriars and Orpington via Denmark Hill, Lewisham and Bromley South.

Disruption will also take place on January 6, 7, 13 and 14 as part of the programme.

Meanwhile, looking ahead to the next festive season, weekend work is scheduled for December 2024 and January 2025 when services won’t run to either Victoria or Blackfriars.

The project, scheduled to be ready by January 2025, will help improve reliability as Network Rail aims to replace old signalling dating back to the 1980s.

The improvements will see more than 1,600m of track being laid, using nearly 1,000 tonnes of ballast and 2,600 new sleepers.

Around 1,000m of conductor rail will also be replaced, along with 14 points, with the number of ticket turnstiles at Victoria increasing from 88 to 121.