Train passengers travelling on a major train route which runs between Kent and the capital face nine days of disruption while work gets underway to restore a Victorian-era Tunnel.

The work is set to take place later this month in Penge, near Bromley and will affect those county commuters travelling on Southeastern services.

Network Rail is set to shut a busy stretch of track between Brixton and Beckenham Junction in South London for nine days from Saturday July 23 until Sunday July 31.

It says engineers will be working around the clock to replace almost two and half miles of track inside the 1.25-mile-long tunnel Penge Tunnel.

Disruption on the Victoria line will affect passengers hoping to board trains travelling to London from Swanley, Longfield, Meopham, and Tonbridge.

Most of the track, including the rail sleepers and ballast, is more than 30 years old and some dates back to the early 1970s.

The rail company says laying down new lines will help reduce delays and improve journeys for customers.

Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: “We’d like to thank passengers and residents living alongside the railway for their patience while we carry out this major track replacement at Penge tunnel.

“This will be a challenging task as the tunnel is over a mile long, but the benefits will mean less maintenance will be needed in future as the track and components will be newer, meaning fewer faults and smoother, more reliable journeys for passengers.

“We recognise this work can be disruptive to passengers and those living alongside the railway and that’s why we’ve tried to fit in other maintenance tasks within the nine-day railway closure so that it causes less disruption and is more cost effective.

“By taking a full nine days, we will significantly reduce overall disruption to passengers, as the alternative to this approach would be five weekends of closure in addition to two separate Sundays.”

Scott Brightwell, operations and safety director for Southeastern added: “We don’t want people to get caught out, so our advice to our passengers during this work is to check before you travel, and to plan ahead by using the Southeastern website or National Rail Enquiries.

"There’s never a good time for work like this to be carried out but the work is crucial and it will mean better journeys in the future."

The work will involve removing the old track, digging up the track bed, and then replacing the rail and ballast (track stones) using a special track laying machine.

It's hoped this will allow trains to run with fewer faults in future.

To minimise overall disruption the line will be closed for nine consecutive days – as opposed to being held over multiple weekends.

National Rail says this means work can be completed in half the time it would take otherwise.

Alongside this, other essential maintenance work will be carried out which the arms-length public body says will make the project more efficient and cost effective.

It is said that Queen Victoria, the first monarch to travel by train, really didn’t care for tunnels and held a particular dislike for the 1.25 mile long Penge link.

So much so in fact that an entire overground ‘loop’ was constructed via Catford so that journeys could be made between Bromley and Victoria and avoid it altogether.

Although it may not have Royal approval, the £5million project to enhance the lifespan of the tunnel is being touted as a vote of confidence in Victorian engineering.

It forms part of a £1.25 billion upgrade programme which aims to provide passengers in Kent and south east London with better journeys and fewer delays.