The Charlton Champion

A senior Network Rail executive has written to The Charlton Champion apologising for its attempt to close the Angerstein Wharf foot crossing without consultation, and pledging to “rectify the situation”.

John Halsall, the senior managing director for Network Rail’s South East Route, said that the process it had followed “was not good enough” and it was committing to work with Greenwich Council and residents to work out the “best solution” for a line which is likely to see a rise in freight traffic.

News of the planned closure emerged last weekend after neighbours received letters from Network Rail telling them the crossing would be closed. Yesterday, it confirmed that the closure had been postponed pending a review.

Mr Halsall said Network Rail “had been engaging” with Greenwich Council, “but it would appear not always with the right part”. It is worth pointing out here that when a Network Rail representative met a Greenwich Council scrutiny panel earlier this year, the future of the crossing was not mentioned. (See video.)

The crossing, between Fairthorn Road in Charlton and Farmdale Road in east Greenwich, will be closed on 20/21 April for engineering works, but will remain open after that.

John Halsall’s letter reads as follows:

Can I start by apologising for the situation that we have generated with respect to the Angerstein footpath (Farmdale Road) crossing. We have approached what was a well-meant intervention, in terms of the safety of the public, in the wrong way, and for that I am sorry.

We are working out how we can rectify the situation, within the bounds of our statutory obligations to protect the safety of the public. I can confirm that as a first step we will not be permanently closing the footpath crossing immediately after the bank holiday weekend of 20/21 April 2019. We will need to block the crossing over that weekend as we undertake engineering works, to protect the public from engineering activity, but the crossing will not be permanently closed at that point.

Over the last 18 months we have engaged with the local authority, but it would appear not always with the right part. Clearly this process has not been good enough, and we are therefore committing to work closely with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and local residents to establish the best solution we can collectively achieve while meeting our statutory safety obligations.

I need to reiterate that we have embarked upon the process for the best of reasons. The risk to the public at the crossing will increase due to engineering changes that are being made following previous operational incidents and also with the anticipated increase in freight traffic. We take this matter very seriously.

I sincerely apologise once again for the poor engagement and will update you further when we have a clear plan confirmed with the local authorities and local residents.

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