A rail company has been slammed after it said it would be weeks more until a lift is working again at a busy east London station.

Train operator, c2c, has been carrying out planned work to replace the lift serving its platforms at West Ham station since February 2.

c2c has now confirmed that the project is not scheduled to finish until mid-May, although Transport for London said that step-free access is not expected until June.  

London TravelWatch, the capital’s transport watchdog, said it was “disappointed” that the lift continues to be out of service.

Announcing the decision to “upgrade” the lift at the end of January, c2c said that the work would ensure the reliability of the lift would be “significantly improved”.

The rail company, which then said works would be finished in late spring, advised customers who need step-free access to travel to West Ham using District line services at Barking.

At the time, c2c’s asset and property director, Ben Martin, said: “This investment into the lift at West Ham station will greatly improve reliability but we understand the upgrade will be disruptive to our customers.

“I would urge anyone requiring step-free access at West Ham station, including carers with prams or buggies, to find an alternative route to the station until the works are completed.”

Commenting on the duration of the works, a London TravelWatch spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed that the lift on c2c platforms serving West Ham station continues to be out of service.

“Accessible travel isn’t a nice to have – it should be the bare minimum that passengers should expect.

“So when a step-free part of a station suddenly becomes inaccessible it means we’re going backwards.

“We hope that passengers are being made aware that the lift is broken to ensure they can plan their journey accordingly and aren’t caught out.”

A spokesperson from c2c said: “The lift is currently being upgraded. This involves a complete strip of all the dusting parts and renewal of the entire lift. The project is scheduled to be complete by mid-May.

“This will improve the facility for customers, giving a huge boost to resilience, speed and lift performance going forward."