The company that built Cutty Sark DLR station, where passengers have suffered years of disruption because of broken escalators, left it in a “shameful state” when it was handed back to Transport for London, one of the area’s local councillors has said.
Escalators at the station have not worked properly since July 2021, with tourists and residents having to use lifts and stairs to access the platforms.
Of four escalators, two were out of service last week, with one due to return this week. But TfL has said it will take until the end of the year before the work will be fully completed, partly because of a shortage of engineers.
Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, a Creekside councillor, raised the issue at last week’s Greenwich Council meeting – and pinned the blame on the private company that built and operated the station before TfL took it over three years ago.
CGL Rail was formed in 1996 by a consortium of construction and investment companies to build the Docklands Light Railway extension from Mudchute to Lewisham, which opened in November 1999. John Prescott, Labour’s deputy prime minister at the time, called the private finance initiative (PFI) deal “an outstanding example of public and private sectors working together to produce a major transport project”.
The company owned the track and stations, and was paid back over 24 years, collecting £45 million in 2019. The deal ended in March 2021, with KeolisAmey, which runs the DLR for TfL, now in charge of the route.
CGL Rail is now in liquidation. The company had £1.5 million in assets when it was wound up, Companies House records show.
A similar PFI deal is being used to fund construction of the Silvertown Tunnel, with tolls on the new road and the Blackwall Tunnel set to pay off the £2 billion bill.
O’Byrne Mulligan said that he was grateful for interventions by Greenwich & Woolwich MP Matt Pennycook and Len Duvall, the London Assembly member for Greenwich & Woolwich, as well as the council.
“This highlights the shameful state that the previous PFI operator left Cutty Sark DLR station in, leaving TfL to pick up the pieces,” O’Byrne Mulligan said.
Averul Lekau, the council’s deputy leader, said she “100 per cent” agreed with him.
TfL has blamed “unforeseen issues” for the ongoing disruption.
In February, TfL said in a written response to a scrutiny panel of councillors it had obtained the parts for the remaining escalator, but that its contractor was trying to “source escalator engineers to carry out the work. This is a time-consuming process due to an ongoing national shortage in the industry, and all these factors have had an ongoing impact on the dates of delivery for each phase of the programme.
It added: “TfL’s commitment to delivering a project that meets the highest standards of safety and performance has been paramount throughout this process, and the expert technical team has been working flat out to plan and adapt to a number of challenges, often outside of its control.
“TfL’s focus remains steadfast on completing the final phase of the refurbishment programme by late 2024. The team is currently working through a London Fire Brigade application for changes to the station fire precautions, and once this is approved the contractor can commence work.”
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