Major London Bridge problems again hit Southeastern
There has been major problems again tonight at London Bridge station after a train broke down around Hither Green.
Southeastern then report a trespasser in the area.
Passengers are again being held on a very busy London Bridge concourse.
This is the company’s solution to prevent platform crowding though ensures crowding downstairs and blocks passengers from accessing trains that are running – or when they commence.
Safer than a crowded platform? Yep. Passenger friendly? No, and with more passengers now waiting for trains at London Bridge due to recent cuts and service changes it’s exacerbating issues around disruption
Earlier this week Southeastern’s Managing Director Steve White stated at a Greenwich Council meeting that issues at London Bridge are not new. That’s certainly the case, though what is different is the number of problems in recent months.
Recent changes to Southeastern’s timetable which saw services cut, introduced longer peak time gaps between trains and enforced more changes at London Bridge all add to going problems. The station then struggles to cope.
London Bridge was rebuilt by Engineers for Engineers
Not one passenger was ever asked for their opinion
It’s an accident waiting to happen
2 packed trains arriving opposite each other and it’s a wild mob
The station is great and miles better than the old one. The problem isn’t the station but the frequency of the trains.
Two packed trains have been arriving opposite each other at London Bridge for decades. The escalator capacity is much higher than the old footbridges and ramps. The problem is too few trains to take people away, thanks to the DFT using COVID as an excuse to make cuts to services, despite them being needed again.
Much functionally has been lost in the rebuilding. It used to be very quick and easy to change between the high-level platforms: if your ex-CHX mainline train arrived full or was a 3759 with the painted concrete seats, it took well under a minute to scamper over the footbridge to catch an ex-CS train arriving at the same time. Ditto for changing trains heading towards CHX/CS.
The footbridge also had a full-size display showing all departures from the high-level platforms, invaluable when services were disrupted, but that’s another facility that’s been lost.
The high-level platforms are also a very unpleasant place to endure a wait because there’s precious little shelter from the cold, wind and rain.