Southeastern apologies for daylight-blocking coverings on train station bridge
Southeastern railway has been accused of 'daylight robbery' after it papered over the windows of a busy passenger footbridge connecting two London stations.
Tens of thousands of travellers moving between Waterloo and Waterloo East stations cross the high level footbridge each day which, until Monday evening, had covered its windows with vinyl wrappers.
'How to make your customers depressed. Lesson one by Southeastern. Block out all the light in the overground footbridge from Waterloo to Waterloo East,' wrote one frustrated commuter on X.
'Why rob the customers of free sunlight? Staff do not like it.'
According to a report in The Times, station staff claimed the coverings had been introduced because it was 'too expensive to have them cleaned'.
'It's so depressing,' said one. '[We] came into work one day and they had taken away all the daylight. The only explanation we've had from the bosses is that people were complaining that the windows were dirty but they felt it was too expensive to actually clean them, so they just papered over them. No one is happy about it.'
Another said: 'It's just awful. Passengers keep asking us why we've blocked out the sunshine.'
Southeastern – one of the UK's busiest rail operators – connects London with Kent and East Sussex.
It was taken over by the UK government in October 2021 following a serious breach of franchise.
An investigation into the firm found that the operator did not declare more than £25 million of historical taxpayer funding.
The company recently concluded a £2 million station improvement programme which involved 'deep cleans' at 116 stations, alongside repair and improvement works at 20 stations.
It claimed the investments formed part of 'the wider goal of building a better, more reliable and sustainable railway'.
A spokesperson for Southeastern told The Independent that the claims around cost-cutting or cleaning were 'completely untrue'.
They added that the covering was 'simply an incorrect installation by our suppliers in the middle of last week which was swiftly taken down on Monday night'.
David Wornham, passenger services director at Southeastern, told The Independent: 'We want our stations to be accessible, safe and welcoming places for our customers. We have spent £2million in the last six months to deep clean over 100 stations, as well as repaint and repair a further 20.
'At Waterloo East, we have invested £150,000 to repaint all platform areas, replace all the wayfinding and signage and added new customer information screens so customers can quickly and easily identify the next trains to Charing Cross and London Bridge.
'The final phase of this programme was intended to install new artwork vinyls to brighten the walkway – but it was never our intention to cover the windows. This error has now been fixed and the artwork has been removed. We are really sorry for the mix up.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
HS2 contractors referred to taxman over supply of workers
The company building the HS2 rail line between London and Birmingham has reported one of its subcontractors to the tax authorities over possible fraud. Whistleblowers made allegations over the way pay was handled for some construction staff on the high-speed Ltd said last month it was conducting its own investigation, looking into two firms who supplied it with workers. The company has now also referred the matter to firms in question were providing workers to Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV), a contractor for HS2. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to raise the issue in Parliament this week. It is the latest difficulty to beset the troubled giant rail infrastructure has faced myriad challenges and spiralling costs since it was first announced in 2009. It was originally designed to boost capacity on the railways between the north and south of England but the last, Conservative, government decided to scrap the second phase of the project, which included building lines to Manchester and this year whistleblowers flagged concerns over the way some subcontracted staff were being paid. They said self-employed workers had been falsely declared as salaried staff, with "fake" payslips submitted at a higher payrate. The allegations were first published in the i newspaper in of the labour suppliers is understood to remain suspended from new contracts while inquiries HS2 spokesperson said: "We treat all whistleblower allegations seriously and are continuing to conduct our own investigation."The firm said it encouraged anyone with relevant information to report it via confidential internal Department for Transport said last month it had "a zero-tolerance attitude towards fraud, bribery, and corruption" and would ensure any claims of wrongdoing were thoroughly investigated.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Watch: Reeves defends Keir Starmer's delay on grooming gangs inquiry
Rachel Reeves says Sir Keir Starmer has been focused on the 'victims' of grooming gangs and not 'grandstanding' after the prime minister committed to a national inquiry. The Chancellor made the comments on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. After initially dismissing calls for a public inquiry, the prime minister said he had read 'every single word' of an independent report into child sexual exploitation by Baroness Louise Casey and would accept her recommendation for the investigation.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Fortnum & Mason plots first UK stores outside London
Fortnum & Mason is plotting its first UK stores outside of London after a surge in customer demand for regular top-ups of luxury teas, biscuits and jam. Tom Athron, the chief of the luxury retailer, said he would be interested in opening stores 'up the spine of the country', adding: 'We do like the idea of stepping beyond Piccadilly [where it has its flagship store], and certainly stepping beyond London.' Fortnum & Mason currently only has four UK stores – including at St Pancras station, a 'tea salon' in London and Heathrow Terminal 5, as well as one site in Hong Kong. Opening outside London would mark the first time the Royal grocer has set up a permanent UK base away from the capital in its 318-year-history. Mr Athron did not say where a new Fortnums could open – but said he would look at sites in a 'beautiful location' with 'beautiful architecture'. He suggested Fortnum would probably consider opening one or two outposts, adding: 'This isn't about ubiquity. But there are other locations across the country where we think that Fortnum could offer both retail and restaurants, where it would be relevant. And we're looking at those now.' It comes as the retailer said it was no longer seen as a 'Christmas focused' business, with customers using Fortnum & Mason to 'stock their own larders' throughout the year. Fortnum & Mason earlier this month launched a new membership scheme – with those signing up to the 'Friends of Fortnum's' programme getting access to tickets for dining events as well as free delivery. Mr Athron said any new store away from London would 'remove the barriers' for the membership scheme and allow members to attend these events. Fortnum & Mason will also look at opportunities to open more airport stores, with Mr Athron saying: 'We would love the opportunity to have shops and restaurants in every terminal at Heathrow.' The plans come despite signs that households are slamming the brakes on spending, amid concerns over the economy. Figures from the British Retail Consortium last week suggested retail sales rose by just 1pc in the year to May. Mr Athron said Fortnum was not seeing a drop in demand. He said: 'What we tend to find is that when people become more judicious in the way that they spend their money, they switch out handbags and trainers for small luxuries they can take home – things like a really special jar of jam.'
