19 hours ago
Break point! Outrage as rail chaos hits thousands of Wimbledon fans - as Sadiq Khan is told he must address 'embarrassing' travel issues
Sadiq Khan has been ordered to 'get a grip' of the transport chaos at Wimbledon as it is risking London 's reputation globally.
Thousands of fans from around the world have been hit by days of cancellations and delays getting to SW19 due to signalling failures.
Pictures showed overcrowded trains and gridlocked stations with visitors furious at missing matches.
Paul Kohler, Lib Dem MP for Wimbledon, blasted the London Mayor, who is chairman of Transport for London (TfL), telling him: 'This is an international embarrassment.
'This is one of the jewels in the crown of British sport and people can't get to the Championships on time because the train won't get them there. There is such a contrast in how the All England Club runs such a tight ship.'
TfL and Network Rail have blamed 'signalling issues'. Locals say it is the worst disruption for almost 30 years, affecting 43,000 spectators who travel to the grounds each day.
TfL admitted it ran only 75 per cent of the normal services on the first two days of the Championships, despite greater demand from passengers.
Mr Kohler added: 'Sadiq Khan needs to just get a grip. This has been a long-running problem – this happens time and time again.'
Campaigner Simon Wright, 68, said: 'Wimbledon are telling people not to arrive by car and TfL are saying they cannot run any more trains. It's crazy, the worst that I have seen.'
Fan Helen Kaufmann, who had tickets for Court Two matches, said she and her husband Alex missed the start of the first match as they were stranded in 'really crowded' Southfields station.
A spokesman for TfL said yesterday that engineers were 'working hard to rectify' the problem and added: 'We apologise to customers affected by the disruption on the District Line.'
A spokesman for the Mayor of London, said: 'When there are delays on the network, TfL works at pace to restore the services to normal.'
Meanwhile, the final three British men crashed out of the singles – with world No 4 Jack Draper being defeated by unseeded Croatian veteran Marin Cilic in a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 defeat.
Dan Evans was beaten in straight sets by 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 and wildcard Jack Pinnington Jones went down 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 to Italy's Flavio Cobolli.
