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Passengers witnessed a “serious overcrowding” on London Bridge yesterday evening.
The signal failure on Cannon Street meant three platforms were closed, causing problems for passengers from the South East.
The worst of this was experienced by train passengers at London Bridge, who struggled to get to the platforms to board the train.
The photos show hundreds of people being held in the hall below.
Commuters shared their impressions of madness on the way to their destination.
One wrote: “I’m very tired, got on the wrong Farringdon train and had to change trains at London Bridge to get home – and MY GOD. My condolences to everyone who commute to work at London Bridge every day. I really thought I was going to be trampled to death, damn it!
Someone else commented: “Ridiculous and dangerous overcrowding at London Bridge station (again) due to problems on the Southeastern network. Not helped by station staff who seemed to do nothing to alleviate the Network Rail problem.
Another added: “You treat us worse than cattle. During peak hours you reach us by train consisting of three cars. Regardless of our safety and well-being. Our journey to Uckfield on the 5.10pm train from London Bridge has been hell.
Sam Chessex, manager of Network Rail stations in the southern region, said: “We are truly sorry for the disruption customers experienced at London Bridge station last night due to a fault in the Cannon Street signaling system.
“This meant that three platforms on Cannon Street and one on London Bridge were closed during the evening rush hour, resulting in delays and cancellations.”
“We had to activate crowd management plans to prevent platforms from becoming overcrowded and to keep everyone safe.
“We understand how frustrating this will be for customers, but it is much safer to keep people in the concourse than on the platforms.
“We are working closely with Southeastern to ensure our disruption management plans are safe and minimize the effects of disruption.”
The problems have been exacerbated recently after Southeastern cut some services in December, meaning more passengers have to transfer to London Bridge.
The network halved its services to Greenwich during peak hours from four to two in December.
Tired passengers have launched a petition calling for services to come under the control of TfL.
Passengers are calling on the network to change the “terrifying new timetable” and “bring back Cannon Street trains and fast trains”.
The description reads: “Southeast routes are often more expensive than TfL, but they are an inferior service.
“The Southeastern timetable for December 2022 has burdened us with infrequent and unreliable services, disrupting life and business.
“The time has come to hand over SE London services to TfL, which has a proven track record in local rail.”
The petition has collected almost 3,000 signatures and will last until August 23, 2023.
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