GRAVESEND railway station will be shut for 15-days while major improvement works costing £19m are carried out.

The work, which will allow longer trains to stop at the station, is expected to begin next month and will take a year to complete.

As well as longer trains offering more seats for passengers, commuters will benefit from a “brighter and more pleasant station with improved facilities,” according to Network Rail.

A new platform is also being built, as is a new footbridge with lifts and step-free access to all platforms.

In order for the work to be completed, the station will be shut between December 22 and January 6 next year, to enable track layout changes to be carried out.

Network Rail’s route managing director for Kent Fiona Taylor said: “It’s a complicated project which requires the station to be closed for 15 days to carry out the work to the track and station.

“We recognise this will cause some disruption to passengers’ and we’ve timed the work to take place over what is traditionally a less busy time on the railway.

“We are working closely with Southeastern to minimise the impact as much as possible and I am confident the long-term benefits to passengers will outweigh the short-term disruption.”

The project will be funded by the government’s Access for All programme and Network Rail.

Southeastern’s head of customer services Sarah Boundy added: “We welcome the project at Gravesend which will enable us to run longer trains to meet the growing demand for our services.

“Our priority however, while the works are underway over the Christmas and New Year period, is to ensure customers using our services through Gravesend are still able to make their journeys.

“We’re currently looking at all our options to best manage the service during the blockade, and as soon as we have more detailed plans we’ll be sharing them with passengers – most likely sometime after the summer.”