'Deliberately thrown' boulder closed train line between Ashford and Maidstone East
20:59, 22 March 2021
updated: 21:25, 22 March 2021
A train line was closed for three hours due to a rock believed to have been thrown on the tracks deliberately.
An obstruction on the line saw services between Ashford and Maidstone East disrupted just before 6pm this evening.
Replacement buses were used until the railway was cleared, after which the first service was the 8.59pm London bound train from Maidstone.
The first Ashford bound service was at 9.29pm, and travellers were urged by Southeaster to claim delay repay if they were delayed over 15 minutes by this incident.
Police are now getting involved over the incident, after the offending obstruction was believed to have been put there on purpose.
A tweet by Southeastern read: "This boulder was the culprit and it's suspected it was a deliberate act, so the police are conducting an investigation."
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