TfL clarify situation with Woolwich DLR entrance closures

Transport for London have responded to comments made by some staff that the Powis Street entrance has been “permanently closed” by stating it will reopen on a full time basis towards the end of the year.

The entrance facing Woolwich’s main shopping street has been closed on numerous occasions dating back months. Recently it has been closed for most of each day. TfL state the issue is staff shortages meaning they cannot open the entrance due to fire regulations.

General Gordon Square – Powis Street entrance is to left

Trish Ashton, General Manager for the DLR, stated:

“We are sorry for any inconvenience the occasional closure of Green Ends entrance is causing customers.  This is due to a temporary shortage of staff which has meant some entrances are not open all of the day.  The DLR operator,  KeolisAmey Docklands, is in the final stages of recruiting new staff and following training they will be in their roles by the end of the year. In the meantime we continue to work with our operator to minimise these closures as much as we can.”

Powis Street entrance is at far end

The service is operated under tender to KeolisAmey who will run the service until 2021. Insufficient staffing is not only inconvenient to passengers but not at all helpful to retailers on Powis Street nor market stall holders near the entrance. There is no word on why staffing levels has dropped so low for so long.

People are now forced to use one entrance and exit beside Woolwich Arsenal DLR station.

------------------

Adverts are far from enough to cover site costs and my rent.

You can support me via Paypal here

Another option is via Patreon by clicking here

You can also buy me a beer/coffee at Ko-fi here

There's also a Facebook page for the site here

Many thanks

J Smith

I've lived in south east London most of my life growing up in Greenwich borough and working in the area for many years. The site has contributors on occasion and we cover many different topics. Living and working in the area offers an insight into what is happening locally.

6 thoughts on “TfL clarify situation with Woolwich DLR entrance closures

  • Thanks for clearing that up. It might not be a huge distance away from the other entrance, but it makes a huge difference. Hopefully they’ll still open it whenever they can.

    Reply
  • Never seen any staff at this entrance/exit. Numerous escalator failures at the other end. Needs to get sorted.

    Reply
  • I agree Chris. This DLR staion also needs a major maintenace overhaul to deal with faulty escalators etc. They could get this completed before the entrance fully reopens.

    Reply
  • So, due to fire regulations, you close a fire exit down, as it’s safer that way ! ?
    I regularly use that station at peak times, and the queue for the escalator is usually pretty long. If there was an emergency at this time, i’m quite sure it’d be safer to have two escalators open, rather than the one !

    Reply
    • if on grounds of ‘fire safety’ – how would, in case of a fire, you ‘can easily walk la la la di da’ to the other side to escape? Open the gates when there is no staff available to AVOID potential casualties

      Reply
  • Just that this wouldn’t happen in Canary Wharf or a more affluent part of town. There’s a danger with congestion with only one escalator open. Someone needs to assess that.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.