Wimbledon’s MP has called Tube delays for tennis fans an “international embarrassment” to London.
Local Liberal Democrat MP Paul Kohler said visitors to the tennis tournament had been caught up in cancellations and delays amid travel chaos on the District line.
Mr Kohler said in a tweet on Thursday (3 June): “The tennis championships are one of the jewels in the crown of British sport and people can’t even get to matches on time because the trains are in total chaos.”
He added that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan needs to “get a grip” on public transport services as “this is an international embarrassment”.
On Tuesday (1 July), a fire on the track at Southfields station – the closest to the All England Club – and signal failures at both Wimbledon and Gunnersbury caused overcrowded trains and long queues at stations.
Days of District line disruption have followed, with trains at a standstill between Tower Hill and Whitechapel on Thursday morning.
The tennis championships in south-west London have so far welcomed more than 125,000 people.
Attendees say they have missed matches and the chance to join the Queue after the tennis tournament got caught up in transport delays.
As of Friday morning, the Wimbledon website says: “The Queue is now at capacity and we are not issuing any more Queue cards for Friday 4 July.”
Mr Kohler has written to Transport for London (TfL) commissioner Andy Lord about the recent issues and requested a meeting to discuss improving the reliability of services.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We apologise to customers affected by disruption on the District line. Our engineers have been working hard alongside our partners Network Rail to rectify any faults as soon as possible and restore a good service. Customers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys and to check before they travel using TfL Journey Planner or the TfL Go app.”
Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: “Wimbledon is a huge international event which should have the full focus of Transport for London.
“The management should do everything they can to keep trains running every three minutes or so – for the sake of tennis fans, but also the many locals who need to use the Underground.
“Even on Friday morning, gaps between trains at Southfield station were around nine minutes. That’s not great at normal times, let alone when the world is visiting southwest London.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “We are confident that there is sufficient capacity on the District line for customers who wish to travel to Southfields for the Wimbledon Championships.
“We work closely with our partners at Network Rail and with the organisers of the Championships to ensure that we deliver as reliable a service as possible and that customers are aware of how to reach the Championships.”
According to a spokesperson for the Mayor of London the Mayor is “investing record amounts in London’s transport network” enabling millions of journeys every day.
They added: “When there are delays on the network, TfL works at pace to restore the services to normal and minimise disruption to those travelling around our city. The Mayor remains focused on delivering the reliable, world-class public transport system Londoners expect and deserve.”
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
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