The continued increase of HS1 commuters, weekend visitors and excursions like the Orient Express has resulted in DEAL train station becoming a central transport hub for the town. The transformation has been helped by the thriving retro cafe 'Platform 1' and recently a community garden project has started to breathe new life into the station.
However even though DEAL commuters have seen their fares increase higher than any other part of the country the investment from Southeastern into basic station services has been pitiful. The dilapidated station sign has still not been replaced and several months ago the platform clock completely stopped functioning. In these difficult times some may say there are more pressing matters, but I personally think first impressions count and DEAL station is often the first impression people see of our town. Let's face it if the clock was in St Pancras it would be fixed within hours. So here is the current state of play:
Southeastern Customer Relations 12/02/2013
I'm sorry that you're unhappy with the condition of station clock at Deal. Our stations form an important part of the overall travel experience. They’re people's first point of entry and very often form the first and last impression of our company. It's important that they're regularly maintained to a good standard. I'm sorry that this wasn't your experience.
I'll ask our station manager to investigate the position as soon as possible and see how we can remedy the situation.
Once again, please accept my apologies. I hope that you'll notice an improvement soon.
Latest Update
I
understand that you'd like more information regarding the maintenance of the
station clock on platform 1 at Deal station.
As
you're aware this clock has not been working for some time. I've been in
contact with the station manager and our facilities team regarding this matter.
I can inform you that we're currently looking into ways to repair this.
However, we're also looking at replacing the clock altogether and a decision
about this should be made in the near future. Therefore, I hope you notice an improvement
with the clock soon.
I
hope this is helpful and thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Yours
sincerely
Customer
Relations Officer
Southeastern
