I am sure you'll be interested in a copy email I received this morning from a passenger to Southern. The sender has agreed that this can be posted although I have deleted her name.

Southern are hardly covering themselves in glory on this issue!
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sirs

Despite the assurance I received from you in the email below this
morning when I arrived at the gate to platform 1 of Sydenham station it was locked.

I am currently practically disabled awaiting major surgery to a knee
In the next few weeks and walk with a crutch. I can only walk for 10 minutes without being in severe pain and cannot easily do stairs - when I do have to do them the pain is almost unbearable.

I arrived at the gate at platform 1 this morning in time to catch the
Train just before 7:30 am only to find the gate locked. I then had to walk round to the main station entrance to get access to the station (this took me over five minutes. The staff explained it was to do with the work to put in the barriers. I asked if we had been notified it would be locked and was told they put a poster up on the gate at 10:30 yesterday morning - not a lot of use as those of us with problems doing the stairs only use it in the morning... (I have subsequently been told the gate was locked last night so I doubt anyone saw the poster).

Staff said there was nothing they could do when I asked how I was
supposed to access platform 1 to get my train, by now I had now missed the one I needed to be on to be at work on time. It would have been nice if they had offered, as they could see I was disabled, to walk back with me, unlock the gate and then re-lock it. No I had to do the stairs, when I asked if one of them would help me one of them did walk across the stairs with me and did say sorry about me having to do it but by then I was in tears from the pain I was experiencing.

I am not sure what they would have done had they been confronted by a person in a wheel chair or with twins in a double buggy who needed to get to platform 1; I suspect they would have done what two of them tried to me and turn away ignore the problem and hope it will go away - I didn't!

I have a medical appointment tomorrow so will be going to work using a different route but come next week (Tuesday through Saturday inclusive) will be in two minds whether to trust your new entry process is up and working or to make alternative travel arrangements.

I would like to make this a formal complaint and would like a response
confirming that this is now being dealt with as a formal complaint.

The summary of the complaint being:-

1) That despite re-assurances to the contrary the gate has been locked while the work is going on.
2) Reasonable prior warning of the gate being locked was not given
3) Confirmation of how the new entry system will work and when it will be up and running - for example next Saturday (24th May) my travel pattern will be the opposite way round to normal so I would be coming back into platform 1 and wanting exit from it late in the evening when there will be no staff at the station - do I need to change my travel arrangements so that I don't use Sydenham?