The news follows confirmation that two of the stations scheduled to open in late summer as part of the JLE’s second phase, London Bridge and Southwark, will not be ready until mid-September, two weeks after the rest of the section opens.
Two other stations are also encountering difficulties. A JLE source said: “There is still a fair bit of installation work to be completed at Canada Water and Waterloo. They should open on time but there will still be a lot of work going on behind the scenes once they’re open.”
The source added that teams from M&E contractor Drake & Scull’s technical services arm, which usually carries out maintenance work, are also helping with installation in a bid to get electrical work completed.
Drake & Scull was unavailable for comment. A JLE spokesperson declined to give a precise date for the second-phase opening.
“It will all be open in a couple of weeks, none of the stations is behind schedule. We said it would open in late summer, and it’s well into September before the end of summer,” she said.
“If HMRI [Her Majesty’s Rail Inspectorate, which carries out safety inspections on all stations] says the stations can be opened to the public, we open them.”
The spokesperson added that work was continuing at North Greenwich Station, which opened earlier in the year.
Initially, services will operate only on Monday to Friday to enable weekend work on the line’s signalling system.
