THE boss of rail firm c2c has apologised to passengers for recent problems with air conditioning and toilets on its trains.

c2c runs services to and from London and Southend via seven stations in Thurrock and the company says industrial action by workers at Alstom, a firm contracted to maintain its trains, has had a negative and unacceptable impact on the route.

Its managing director Rob Mullen, who has written an open letter to passengers, says: "Over the last couple of weeks we have been experiencing some issues with our on-train air conditioning and the maintenance of our toilets.

"This is not acceptable for our customers so I would like to reassure you that c2c is dedicated to resolving these issues as soon as possible.

"We have put a number of measures in place already, including a specialised team to carry out a repair programme to deal with customer-facing train faults, with train toilet repair and faulty air conditioning being prioritised.

"We explained these challenges at the time and are pleased to say that this industrial action has now been resolved with unit availability returning to the required levels.

"However, the action has had a knock-on effect on the maintenance programme for our trains, causing the number of outstanding issues with air con and toilets to temporarily increase.

"Although we are working hard with Alstom, it will take some time for these faults – which we recognise adversely affect our customers' experience of travelling with us – to be resolved and I wanted to apologise for the inconvenience this is causing."

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Mr Mullen concluded: "Please be assured that this is a real priority for myself and my team and we are working hard to improve this situation."