Two cases of Bedbugs found on Southeastern trains

Bedbugs have been found on Southeastern trains, with some services cancelled after staff discovered the insects inside a driver’s cab.

The outbreak had affected the West Marina train care depot near Hastings, which serves commuters between London and Kent.

Bedbugs have also reportedly been spotted on Southeastern's High Speed 1 services, however, Southeastern denies this and says no cases have been found on this network.

According to internal messages seen by The Telegraph, drivers have found bedbugs inside train cabs and even crawling on their bags.

Some drivers are said to have refused to board affected trains, claiming the issue was not being taken seriously by management.

At least three services were cancelled on Friday, with further cancellations reported since the first sighting on September 22.

One train was reportedly nicknamed the "Bedbug Express" by railway insiders after two carriages were locked and taken out of use when a passenger spotted the insects.

However, Southeastern explained these two carriages were locked in response to an alleged sighting by a driver, and the train only remained in service while it was returned to a suitable location for inspection.

The rail operator upholds that it has not found any “infestations”.

The Telegraph also reported that pest control specialists were called to the West Marina depot on Friday morning.

Internal Southeastern service control logs reportedly show that one driver refused to enter the cab of a train containing bedbugs unless they were provided with a full-body protective suit.

No such suits were available, according to the logs, resulting in two trains being cancelled.

The reports have raised concerns among railway workers about how affected trains were handled.

However, Southeastern said the cases had been contained to drivers' cabs and that no bedbugs had been found in passenger areas.

The company said four trains had been reported as having bedbugs, with two cases confirmed. Both trains were cleaned before being returned to service.

Oly Turner, Southeastern's head of drivers, said: "We have a great relationship with our drivers, who have helped hugely in cooperating with us over these isolated incidents.

"When we receive reports such as these we check trains thoroughly before they are put back into service when given the all clear.

"Cases have been contained to the drivers cabs in only two of our trains and no bedbugs have been identified in areas for passengers.

"We continually carry out robust cleaning across our trains and stations, ensuring our customers and employees can travel safely and with confidence."

A Rail, Maritime and Transport union spokesman said it was "working closely with the company" to deal with the “very difficult” situation.

Bedbugs can hide in warm cracks and crevices and typically come out at night to feed. They can be difficult and expensive to eradicate once they become established.

Residents living close to the West Marina depot told the newspaper they were not surprised to hear about the infestation.

One local, a teacher named Lorraine, raised concerns about discarded furniture outside a building marked "train crew messroom".

She said: "It doesn't surprise me. They do all the cleaning here, they wash the trains on that side."

Southeastern said its trains are checked and cleaned before being returned to service following reports of bedbugs.