After multiple landslips the Hastings to Tonbridge railway line will reopen to passengers this morning after two months of "round-the-clock" work.

Three serious landslips in late March and early February caused considerable disruption to passengers’ journeys as trains could not safely run over the damaged railway.

Network Rail had hoped to fully reopen the route in early March, but the Whatlington slip moved again, despite considerable work having taken place to fix it.

In a joint statement, both Southeastern and Network Rail thanked customers for their patience and said the normal train timetable would resume from the start of service tomorrow morning.

Charles Horton, managing director for Southeastern said: “It’s been a trying time for everyone on the Hastings line, and we’re relieved the work is now finished and we can start running normal services again.

"We want to thank our customers for bearing with us – we’re now focused on returning to normal and providing a good service for our passengers.”

Test trains were run over the repaired section of line for the first time on Sunday, before the start of passenger service this morning.

Network Rail’s route managing director for Kent, Fiona Taylor, said: “This has been a really difficult time for passengers on the line and I have been continually impressed by their patience and understanding.

"We have had a serious engineering challenge to meet at Whatlington, as well as at the other landslip sites, and it has taken a huge effort from everyone to get to this position.

“I would like to thank passengers once again for bearing with us while we worked to reopen their railway.”

Buses have replaced trains between Battle and Robertsbridge since January 30.