A rail boss has confirmed the ground is still moving on a railway embankment which is due to be closed for “at least two weeks”.

Mark Killick, director of engineering and asset management for Network Rail, said engineers are working “around the clock” to fix ecological issues on the site on a major train line between Tonbridge and Redhill.

Keeping customers updated on the repair work, Mr Killick said today: “Engineers have been on site and we’ve had to do some clearance of the area and some ground investigation work, to work out exactly the best solution to get the railway back open again as quickly as we possibly can.

“This is quite a remote location and there are a number of ecological issues on site.

“We’re working through that and to confirm the exact plan in a few days’ time.

“The embankment is still moving with the rainfall that we’re seeing – only in small amounts, but we need to get in and reinforce it as quickly as we can, and take the time to design the right solution.”

He added: “We’re really sorry to our customers for the inconvenience – we’re doing everything we can to get the railway back open. We’re working around the clock.”

Problems with the embankment which carries the railway between Tonbridge and Edenbridge were detected on Friday evening with the company saying it had to deal with repeated defects throughout the weekend.

Following a thorough assessment by geotechnical specialists, more substantial work to address the problem will now go ahead.

A Network Rail spokesman said it was working closely with environmental and ecological specialists to minimise any impact on wildlife in the area.

Mr Killick said the recent wet weather had added to the problems.

“In recent months we’ve seen extreme levels of rain, including the wettest February in this part of the country for 200 years.

“This has put stress on parts of our infrastructure, particularly earthworks. We are working on site now to understand the cause and full extent of the problem and we will share more updates as soon as we can.”

Rail replacement buses will be used and customers will be allowed to use existing tickets on other routes - more details will be available from Southern Railway’s website.

People are being encouraged to allow more time to travel and to check the Southern Rail website or National Rail for the rail replacement buses.

The companies are aiming to reopen the line in time for the restart of the school term after the Easter holidays.