Railway passengers will face a week’s worth of disruption following a landslide.

The six miles between Rainham and Sittingbourne will remain closed for at least the next seven days to allow Network Rail engineers to stabilise the slippage next to the line at Newington.

The land fell away on Friday afternoon following days of heavy rainfall which contributed to the formation of a 40 metre-long crack.

During the closure, a limited bus service will replace Southeastern trains between Sittingbourne, Newington, Rainham and Gillingham

An amended train service will operate between London Victoria and Gillingham, via Denmark Hill; London St Pancras and Rochester; Sittingbourne and Dover Priory, and Sittingbourne and Ramsgate.

Network Rail’s geotechnical and structures experts discovered land slipped around five metres down the embankment, prompting the closure.

Over the next week engineers will work round the clock to stabilise the embankment in the hope of returning services by Monday, March 4.

To do this, the embankment will be regraded, which will involve the excavation of the slipped material before creating a new profile for the embankment.

Steps will effectively be cut into the slope before it is backfilled with 3,000 tonnes of stone to help reduce the gradient and strengthen the embankment.

Noise and vibration sensors are also being installed so Network Rail can monitor, and where possible, reduce disruption to residents living nearby.

Bob Coulson, Network Rail’s Kent route infrastructure director has apologised to those facing delays.

“I’m really sorry for the disruption,” he said.

“The safety of our customers and colleagues is always our number one priority and we’ve unfortunately had to close the railway through this area to allow our engineers to go in and complete emergency repairs.

“We’re acutely aware of how critical this route is for rail passengers, and we’ll be working tirelessly to repair and stabilise the embankment as quickly as possible so we can reintroduce services.

“We’re working closely with our colleagues at Southeastern to develop a plan so customers are still able to get to where they need to go.”

Southeastern’s operations and safety director, Scott Brightwell, added: “We are running a limited bus service between Sittingbourne and Gillingham while the line is closed.

“Please allow additional time for your journey and we expect queuing arrangements to be in place at busy times.

“There will also be changes to our usual timetable on other routes with some services cancelled and others expected to be extremely busy.

“Full details are on the Southeastern website and online journey planners are up to date, please check before you travel.”