A businessman is considering legal action against London Midland because parked trains are blocking out natural light from his offices.
Frank Carson, the owner of Primrose Hill Business Centre in Chalk Farm, says office workers have complained they are starved of daylight by stationary trains in the Camden sidings.
Mr Carson, who has owned the centre for 40 years, said that until three years ago, the sidings were only used to wash trains. “We had no complaints when carriages were moved away after they were cleaned but now they are parked there throughout the day,” he said.
“If they are moved, they only go for around 45 minutes before they are back again. This means people working in our offices are denied daylight and all they can see are trains.”
One manager, Robert Hohler, who runs Companions of London, said: “The carriages are only about 10 feet away. It was never the most beautiful view, but now the trains rarely clear.”
Mr Hohler, whose staff have worked in the building since 1995, also believes his phones and internet are affected.
Mr Carson said he met two London Midland representatives six weeks ago and they “seemed sympathetic” but he then received a letter saying nothing could be done. “I am prepared to take this further. I have a draft letter ready to send off to London Midland’s legal department.” It also affected the rents he could charge, he added.
London Midland said: “In 2010 the Department for Transport funded our upgrade of the Camden sidings so that we can stable our trains there during the daytime off-peak hours. This is necessary so that we have the trains in the right place to run our peak-time commuter services to and from London.”
It added that the only alternative, moving trains to Bletchley during the day, would involve a 100-mile round trip, extra drivers and timetable changes.
