Grant Shapps: Measures now place to prevent overcrowding at Canning Town

Commuters at Canning Town station on Tuesday January 12, 2021. Startling footage revealed mass crowds at the station
PA

Timetables have been changed, police deployed and some trains will not be stopping at Canning Town station to prevent a repeat of overcrowding on the Tube, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said today.

Construction companies have also been urged to stagger work start times to avoid so many builders having to travel at the same time.

After startling footage of overcrowding at Canning Town, in the middle of the Covid epidemic, Mr Shapps told  ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I saw this yesterday.

“Obviously it’s a Transport for London issue directly.

“But immediately I saw it, I got onto Sir Peter Hendy, who is the chair of Network Rail, and asked him to spend yesterday finding solutions.

“First of all, unfortunately, some drivers did not turn up because of coronavirus itself.

“Today, timetables have been changed, some trains won’t be stopping in order to prevent the overcrowding, the c2c trains that run into Canning Town, their timetables are being moved.

“We have got British Transport Police down there.

“We have spoken to the construction companies because of lot of the workers are construction workers at that time of day in order to get timings moved so people don’t start to work at the same time.”

He was expecting a “mid-morning” report on the situation today at Canning Town station which is in one of the most deprived areas of the capital and serves as a major interchange for builders and key workers commuting into central London.

Transport for London said on Thursday that the large numbers of people crowding onto trains at Canning Town Tube station were due to a defective train and staff absences.

Footage emerged on social media of a packed platform at the east London station, raising concerns about the effectiveness of lockdown measures.

Mr Shapps added: “We don’t want to see that kind of overcrowding.”

While generally there has been “very light usage” of trains during the lockdown, he stressed: “I would encourage people not to get into crowded situations and if you do turn up at the station, it may not possible for everyone because they may have stepped off the train and then found they were already in the crowd, but I do encourage people that if they know that that might be a hotspot to avoid it.”

He emphasised there were Apps available to see how busy transport hubs are.

Nick Dent, London Underground's director of line operations, said: “The platforms at Canning Town were very occasionally busy between 6:00 and 7:00 this morning but we are running a near-normal service which meant these could be safely cleared quickly.

"British Transport Police were also at the station to ensure that passenger and staff safety was maintained."

TfL is contacting large employers in the area to urge them to stagger shifts and operating hours so their workers can travel at quieter times, he added.

He explained further: “We are doing everything we can to help ensure those who need to travel for legally permitted reasons are able to do so in a safe way and maintain social distancing.

"We urge passengers to travel between 08:15 and 16:00 and after 17:30 on weekdays, which are significantly quieter times on the network.”

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