A south-east London DLR station where broken escalators have left passengers forced to climb 121 stairs has been branded a “national disgrace” and “not fit for purpose”.
All four escalators at Cutty Sark DLR station in Greenwich have been out of use for the last two months.
Passengers using the station are currently forced to walk up and down 121 steps to get between the street level and platforms, or alternatively wait for the station’s sole, small lift.
TfL has apologised for the issues and says it is working to fix the escalators “as soon as possible”, but local councillors and Greenwich residents are calling for it to commit to a timeframe for the repairs.
One resident said on X: “I have lived here nearly two years and the escalators have never all been working at the same time. National Disgrace.”
Another, named on X as Richard, described the station as ”disgusting” and said the escalator situation was a “farce”.
Another wrote: “I just need to ask what on earth is happening at DLR Cutty Sark, it's awful! No working escalators and a tiny lift or a long walk up a dirty stairwell. And all this at one of London's favourite tourist destinations. How long is this debacle going to continue?”
The station is served by four escalators which connect the station’s three floors.
For the last three years, the escalator services have periodically broken down, leaving one some of them out of service and forcing passengers to use the stairs.
For the last two months, no escalators at the station have been working, forcing passengers to climb up and down 121 steps to and from street level, or squeeze into the station’s one small lift. Passengers are advised to alternatively alight at Greenwich DLR, a 10-minute walk away from the Cutty Sark station.
Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Labour councillor for Greenwich Creekside, said Cutty Sark DLR is “not fit for purpose” and is calling on TfL to commit to a timeline in which repairs on the escalators will be completed.
“It's been a fundamentally unreliable service for three or so years,” he told The Standard. “I think it's safe to say it's the worst it's been at the moment, with no working escalators.
“The current situation is not fit for purpose for London and for Greenwich and particularly for those with mobility and accesibilty issues, that station is failing them.”
Hi @TfL for the record, I just asked your staff at the info desk to alert passengers on the train approaching Cutty Sark DLR they have to climb 121 steps to exit the station. We had 17m visitors last year and many locals have been asking for a solution since at least 2019! pic.twitter.com/hFeOmb68T6
— Karin Tearle (@BELLEGREENWICH) October 20, 2024
“It's the gateway to one of London's four world heritage sites - an important tourist site - and a vital mode of transport for thousands of my residents.
“As we understand it, all four escalators are expected to be back in operation by [Spring] 2025. We're seeking greater clarity from TfL on exactly what that means, making sure that timeline is met.
“My priority now is making sure that we get the situation sorted going forward and that when it does get fixed, it sticks.”
Cllr O’Byrne Mulligan said the station also needs “better lift provision” longer-term, as well as a refurbishment to improve the “pretty grotty-looking” station and clean its “ingrained” grime.
Currently queues of people are forced to wait to use the station’s sole lift.
“You can just about fit in a wheelchair and one person - it's the same for prams and parents with young people - it's very, very tight,” he said.
“TfL get that it's not good enough and they're trying but I just wish we were seeing results quicker than we are, and I’m keen to work with them to see if we can expedite it and improve access.”
His concerns were echoed by Labour MP for Greenwich Matthew Pennycook, who said: “I share residents’ frustration about the frequency of escalator faults at Cutty Sark DLR station and the length of time that repairs take on each occasion.
“While I do not underestimate the challenges involved with maintaining what is now old equipment, the inconvenience and barriers to access caused by repeated outages has become intolerable.
“Following the latest outages, I made further representations to TfL seeking firm assurances about the timeframe they are now working to in terms of finally having a full set of refurbished and operational escalators at the station.”
TfL has apologised for the situation and said it is working to fix the station “as soon as possible”.
Benjamin Grellier, TfL’s Head of Operations for the DLR, said: “I am truly sorry for the continuing issues with the escalators at Cutty Sark station. We are working closely with our engineers to try to get some escalators back into service as quickly as possible and assure customers we are dealing with the issues at the station.
“We have additional station staff on hand to assist customers and the small lift continues to be available to help those who might need it.
“Customers with mobility issues or parents with pushchairs will be prioritised when waiting for the lift. It is expected that the station concourse will be busier than normal so customers may wish to consider an alternative route such as Greenwich DLR station or local buses.”
Maintenance for the station was taken over by TfL in 2021, and before that the lifts and escalators had been maintained by a private company.
Maintenance for Cutty Sark DLR moved under TfL’s control in early 2021, having previously been managed by PFI City Greenwich Lewisham (CGL) Rail.
TfL said that when it took over maintenance, work had to be carried out to establish what repairs the escalators needed.
TfL says the repairs needed were more extensive than initially thought and were then hampered by Covid as a number of custom parts were needed from overseas manufacturers.
Three of the four escalators have since been refurbished, but reliability has remained an issue.
There is currently a one-way system in place on both the regular staircase and the emergency staircase, with one going to the platforms and one coming up to the concourse.
Additional staff are available to assist customers.
A full risk assessment has taken place to ensure that it is safe to operate the station using the stairs only.
