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Commuters experience 'Nightmare Monday' while train staff are rewarded

Staff at delay-plagued London Bridge received vouchers for a 'job well done', Southeastern reveals.

Passengers using London Bridge station have been subjected to overcrowding, late-running and cancelled services because of problems in recent weeks
Passengers using London Bridge station have been subjected to overcrowding, late-running and cancelled services because of problems in recent weeks

Staff at a station where travellers were dealt a 90-minute delay this morning were given vouchers to thank them for a job well done.

Delays in and out of trouble-hit London Bridge station this morning were caused by over-running engineering work coupled with signalling problems.

A spokesman for Southeastern train company today revealed 4,000 of its staff were handed £25 vouchers to thank staff for their hard work, including implementing the changes to the timetable that have taken place due to the on-going work at London Bridge.

"We don't think people should blame the staff. I don't think staff are to blame for what's happening,” Sevenoaks Rail Travellers' Association chairman Tony Clayton told KentOnline.

"However, I would like to know what they are going to do to compensate passengers. We have got absolutely nowhere with them."

"To be fair, Southeastern staff are very good considering the resources they are given,” added Felipe Alviar-Baquero, of the Malling and District Rail Travellers' Association. “It's not their fault that their management has been poor with the planning. They are the ones that have to face distressed and angry customers."

The delays at London Bridge today were accompanied by badly-disrupted London Underground (LU) rush-hour services and other difficulties on the main line.

On the Tube, a signal failure at Edgware Road in north west London led to a part-suspension of the District line as well as severe delays on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

While District Line operations director Steve White apologised for the delays, Mick Cash, general secretary of transport union the RMT, said commuters had had to put up with "a nightmare Monday".

"We have warned repeatedly about the impact of cuts to maintenance and staffing and those warnings have been rubbished and ignored by Tube bosses working to a political agenda handed down by London Mayor Boris Johnson," he said.

On the main line, a broken-down train led to delays to services in and out of Moorgate station in London, while another train failure, in Scotland, caused hold-ups to services between Gourock and Glasgow Central.

There were also delays on the East Coast line due to a signal failure at Retford in Nottinghamshire, while a signalling problem in Sussex caused delays to trains between Eastbourne and Hastings.

*With inputs from Press Association