Alarmed rail passengers claimed there was dangerous overcrowding at East Croydon station yesterday morning, due to reduced train services following cancelled strike action.  

Images taken by passengers show people crammed behind closed off ticket barriers and closely packed onto the platforms.  

Louise Thompson, who was present at the station, tweeted: “Overcrowding at East Croydon Station is at danger level, in all seriousness. People could be hurt.” 

Thompson told Eastlondonlines that there was confusion over which platform the train to London Bridge would go from, leading to “a crush at the concourse.”

She said: “a lot of the people up on the concourse turned back through the crowd [when the platform was announced]. Hillsborough honestly went through my mind. Big groups of people almost swarming.”

Govia Thameslink Railway said in a statement: “Unfortunately, as was publicised in advance, services started much later than usual today owing to the late-notice suspension by the RMT of their strike. East Croydon was very busy as a result and we introduced crowd management measures, holding people back in the concourse to ensure everyone’s safety. 

“The station continued to be busy because of a points failure, but normal service was resumed by 10.30am. We apologise to anyone affected. If your journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more then please claim Delay Repay compensation via the Southern or Thameslink websites.” 

The train strikes which had been planned for Monday November 7 were cancelled, but National Rail said that due to the short notice, “train driver availability will inevitably be very challenging.” 

They had warned on their website that services yesterday could start later and finish earlier than usual.  

Kirstie Smith, who was at the station, told Eastlondonlines: “Despite strikes being called off last week @TLRailUK scheduled the first train to London Bridge just before 8am. This was people trying to commute. East Croydon was carnage, as it seems, were many other stations.” 

Following the chaos at the station yesterday, Sean Fitzsimons, Councillor for Addiscombe West, drew attention to the government’s reversal of plans to expand East Croydon Station. 

He tweeted: “This is why we need the Government to reverse its decision not to allow Network Rail to rebuild East Croydon Station and provide 2 extra platforms. [The] current station is too easily overwhelmed whenever trains are delayed. This impacts on services running all along [the] route to Brighton.” 

The Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme (CARS), proposed in summer 2020, aimed to provide “a rebuilt station with two additional platforms, a larger concourse with improved facilities for passengers and better connections with the town centre and other transport links.” 

Network Rail described the access ramps being “steep and congested” as well as saying that “the small concourse regularly becomes overcrowded.” 

However, CARS will no longer be taking place due to the uncertainty following the Covid pandemic and “funding constraints following the Government’s 2020 Spending Review.”