Disruption on the rail-line between Maidstone East and Ashford International is over.

After a nine-day line closure, the line re-opened this morning.

Network Rail has spent £10m stabilising the steep sides of the rail-cutting near Bearsted which had been prone to landslips and rock falls.

A rock fall even took place while contractor were working on the repairs.

The company said it had taken advantage of the closure to simultaneously carry out other improvements such as re-painting stations along the line and laying new electric cables.

Network Rail’s route director for Kent, Fiona Taylor, said: "This was a massive job for us and for our neighbours and passengers, and we really appreciate their patience.

"The section of line between Maidstone East and Bearsted was a big worry, with two rock falls in recent years and another one last week, and the work we’ve done this past nine days has helped to make it much safer."

She said: "We don’t get to close railways very often so we took advantage of the quiet week on the line to do a great deal of other work, from painting bridges, railings and roofs, and even jet washing platforms.

"We’ve got a bit more to do in the coming weeks, so our neighbours will still see us around, but passengers will be pleased to hear that trains are running again.”

The work at Bearsted involved drilling soil and rock nails deep into the ground on either side of the line, and pumping grout around them to hold the sides of the cutting together.

Netting will be laid along the top to hold looser material in place and stop the risk of rock and soil being washed onto the railway in heavy rain.

During the works, engineers installed 1,100 rock bolts and 500 nails into the cutting and drilled a total of 6,800 metres of bolt holes.

The train service had been replaced by a bus link during the closure.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford