Patience exhausted: Greenwich MP demands answers from TfL
Problems with broken escalators at Cutty Sark DLR station has seen an MP demand answers from TfL as all four remain out of service.
Issues have been ongoing for years with the station’s passengers now forced to use small lifts or numerous steps to reach street level.
Transport for London had blamed years of disruption due to poor quality assets inherited when a 25-year Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract ended, though since then problems have continued for four years.
In the letter MP Matt Pennycook asks whether all four escalators will be fixed at the same item or phased and how long work will take. TfL have stated that funding for replacements has been secured.
He also asks whether shorter term fixes of existing escalators will be undertaken and measures for those with accessibility issues.
A petition has also been launched by passengers fed up with years of escalator closures.
Station design
Cutty Sark station was built as part of a PPP-funded extension from Island Gardens to Lewisham which opened in 1999.
The station was built rather cheaply and compromised from day one, with platforms only long enough for two-car trains when three-cars frequently operated.
When agreement was made for private consortium named City Greenwich Lewisham Rail Link (CGL) to construct the extension, Cutty Sark wasn’t initially included.
As part of the agreement, an oversite development was included.
One small solitary lift exists within the station are small and stairwells are cramped. Escalator reliability has been poor for some years.
As part of Silvertown tunnel work Transport for London have offered free DLR journeys between Cutty Sark and Island Gardens. It’s unlikely to be used by many, though offering such journeys during a time when overcrowding owing to all four lifts being out of action has raised eyebrows.
Like the cycle shuttle bus which is extremely poor to access by bike from many areas, it has raised questions of TfL’s overall strategy with the new road tunnel and general levels of knowledge regarding the local area.
TFL Management do not care they are a very poorly run organisation that do not care about the travelling public. The escalators are always broken making it difficult for many people to use the station.
They leave their hard working staff to take all the anger and abuse from frustrated passengers.
In the 5 years I have been in Greenwich there has only been maybe 6 months in total that all 4 escalators worked. It has generally been 1 or 2 working but now it seems to have hit a new low with all four being out of action for ages now. I dont use it anymore. I go to Greenwich even though its a longer walk home. It really is a joke