London DLR station where ‘fights broke out over lift’ to close for nearly a year

A station in London which has been plagued with escalator problems is now set to close for nearly a year.

The escalator at Cutty Sark DLR station in Greenwich, south east London, has been broken since October last year and had issues prior to then, leaving passengers faced with either battling for a spot in one lift or walking up the 121-step staircase.

The situation has got so heated that there have even been fights when the escalators were broken as people queued for the single customer lift, residents said.

It is one of London’s busiest DLR stations, with more than 7.6 million entries and exits in 2023, TfL figures show.

Footage filmed by a resident on March 4 and shared with Metro shows a woman trying to push her way in past the queue while a member of staff intervenes. Another customer then shoves her back.

However, Metro understands no fights have been officially reported.

Karin Tearle, a photographer from Greenwich and a campaigner with the Escalate Now group, said that the problem ‘jeopardises the reputation of the Royal Borough.’

Passengers told Metro the escalator issue started almost ten years ago. This predates the time when TfL took over the station management in 2021.

Cutty Sark station will close from Saturday, May 31, and remain shut until next spring so that new and more energy-efficient escalators can be installed for £4,000,000 of repairs, TfL confirmed last week.

Karin said: ‘Fights have broken out on those lifts. Other people have broken up a fight and I’ve seen one. The poor members of staff are also affected – it’s not their fault this has happened.’

She said the stairs can be ‘really crowded and that can be dangerous.’

As a photographer, she often has to carry heavy camera equipment and faces the choice of either lugging it up the stairs or waiting ‘a long time’ for the crowded lift.

‘Some people will push to the front and leave wheelchair users out,’ she said.

Rachael Oakley, who travels through the DLR station with her disabled and elderly mum, said the station is ‘unusable’ for them because of the issues.

They have waited ’20 minutes for the lift’ as facing the stairs is not an option for her mum, who also struggles with anxiety, Rachael told Metro.

She said the station was not ‘well thought through’ from the beginning when it was built for the millennium.

‘I’ve seen fights at the lift. The steps are unsafe to use. A wheelchair user or a young mother with a pram cannot go through the steps,’ she said, adding that she is glad that the repairs will be carried out.

Why can’t Cutty Sark DLR station stay open?

Ben Grellier, TfL’s head of operations for the DLR, said the transport authority knows the escalators ‘have been causing disruption and frustration’ for passengers.

However, it is ‘not possible’ not fix the issue while the station stays open, he said.

‘We apologise for any further disruption the station closure may cause, but it is not possible to replace these escalators with the station in operation,’ he said.

‘Once installed, the new state-of-the-art escalators will provide customers with reliable and easier access to DLR services at the station.’

Matthew Pennycook, the MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, said on X: ‘I appreciate fully that it will entail a period of disruption and will impact people’s lives, but it is very welcome that TfL are doing what is necessary to permanently resolve the problem of broken escalators at Cutty Sark DLR Station.’

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