Network Rail investigating after ‘sinners’ Ramadan message appears on King’s Cross station board

The King’s Cross owner is looking into why ‘general Ramadan celebratory messages’ were replaced

Network Rail has launched an investigation after a Ramadan message was shared on a customer display board at a London railway station.

The sparked debate across social media, with former Ukip and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage wading into the row.

Mr Farage asked on Twitter/X: “Aren’t we supposed to be a Christian country?”

King’s Cross is one of the UK’s busiest railway stations (Getty Images)

On Tuesday morning, one of the screens at King’s Cross station, next to the list of train times, contained a “hadith of the day”, which read: “The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) [Peace Be Upon Him] said: All the sons of Adam are sinners but the best of the sinners are those who repent often.”

A hadith refers to the sayings and actions attributed to Muhammad, and is a major source of Islamic theology and law – considered to be second only to the Quran in importance.

Network Rail has confirmed to The Independent that it is looking into why this message went up instead of the general celebratory Ramadan message.

Some questioned whether it was right to share a religious message on a station’s announcement board, describing it as “unnecessary”, while one user tweeted “would it not be better to advise commuters about train delays”.

“Why aren’t the football results mentioned, the weather, todays v schedule? It’s a train station, not a religious message board,” read one tweet.

But others hit back, pointing out that Christian messaging can be seen at Christmas: “It’s Ramadan right now, of course there is going to be a hadith.”

Another posted: “Why are all the snowflakes getting offended by this?”

A spokesperson for Network Rail told The Independent: “We celebrate all the big religious festivals from Christmas to Ramadan at King’s Cross to reflect our diverse passenger and employee base.

“However, our main departure board should be reserved for train information and our general Ramadan celebratory messages weren’t used for some reason, which we’re looking into. All has now been corrected.”

The infrastructure operator previously told the Evening Standard that “if significant disruption occurs on the network, the boards are changed to display relevant passenger information to help passengers complete their journeys”.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the National Secular Society, told The Telegraph that “at best it’s a well-meaning yet misguided and counterproductive attempt at inclusivity”.