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SouthEastern trains continue to suffer cancellations and severe delays after a fire at London Bridge made the morning commute a misery for thousands of people travelling in from stations in Bromley Borough.  At one stage London Bridge, Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations were al closed and even as of 10:30am they continue to only provide shuttle services.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning under a disused railway arch unit and was fought by around 50 fire-fighters from Deptford and even a crew from Beckenham.

London Victoria and Blackfriars stations remained open throughout the morning to service passengers travelling in from the south east but reported massive increase in passenger numbers and a struggle to cope with demand.  South Eastern trains have advised people to leave extra time for their journeys but as one commuter found, this doesn’t tell half the story after she arrived into work over 2 hours and 20 minutes late.

Anna Dedman usually gets the 7:59am from Chislehurst Station and travels to London Cannon Street, arriving at 8:26am.  She told Guide2Bromley,

“Upon seeing all trains were cancelled I decided to walk the 25 minutes to Bickley Station and travel to Victoria.  I was lucky enough to get on a Blackfriars train but this is where my luck ran out.  At Catford Station the train was stopped completely for over half hour as a passenger was taken ill on a train in front.  Then we were delayed outside Blackfriars for an age due to congestion.  I eventually made it to work at 10:45am”

When asked if the situation could have been handled better Anna advised that whilst the information provided at the station about the incident was adequate, better information could have been given as to alternatives for travel.  Also that the information provided on trains was poor and that SouthEastern drivers “.need to be taught a bit of customer service”.

Other companies that have been affected by the fire include Southern and First Capital Connect.