Passengers affected by the ongoing redevelopment of London Bridge station should be compensated after enduring weeks of commuter chaos, according to a London council.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich has demanded a meeting with Network Rail due to the ‘continuing chaos’ surrounding engineering work at the station, which has seen passengers jump over barriers to escape the crush.
Commuters had their journeys severely affected again yesterday, when several unrelated faults caused disruption at the station. Network Rail has apologised for the problems.
Greenwich said passengers should not have to face ‘on-going misery and uncertainty’ until the project is completed in 2018.
Cllr Danny Thorpe, the council’s cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: ‘Thousands of our residents and businesses depend on the rail network to go about their daily business and the on-going delays and cancellations are causing misery to many. Enough is enough.
He added: ‘The whole project is causing such adverse effects on people's lives that we believe a renewed approach to managing this complex project, with appropriate compensation for those affected, is needed.’
The council said it would meet with Network Rail to seek improvements in the management and communication of the project.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: 'We absolutely accept that Monday morning’s performance was unacceptably poor however we are pleased with the way Southeastern’s timetable is performing overall.
'Southeastern’s services along the Greenwich line averaged 92.8% Public Performance Measure (PPM) over the last month.'
