HOGRIDER 100 : DECEMBER 2004

A complimentary hard copy of this issue went to every MP in the Hampshire area

INDEX

EXAMPLES OF THE GROUP'S PAST ACTIVITIES

HOW SWT MANIPULATES PUBLIC OPINION, INCLUDING ATTACK ON MPS: AN UPDATE

MISREPRESENTATION OF THE NEW SWT TIMETABLE

SPECTACULAR DECLINE IN SWT PEAK PERFORMANCE

COULD STAGECOACH "GREED" INDIRECTLY DESTROY THE RAILWAYS AS WE KNOW THEM, INCLUDING LYMINGTON LINE?

ANOTHER COMMUTER REVOLT AGAINST SWT

SWT FIASCO DUE TO DOOR FAILURE

SWT LEAVES HUNDREDS STRANDED IN WIND AND RAIN

AWFUL EXPERIENCES OF SWT TRAVEL BY A BENTLEY COMMUTER

SWT STAFF "DON'T GIVE ME ANY HELP" BY EARLSFIELD MOTHER

MAXIMISING PROFITS FROM COMMUTER MISERY

"IS THERE ANY ORGANISATION THAT IS SO OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE NEEDS OF ITS CUSTOMERS AS SWT?"

"HOW POOR THE WHOLE SWT OPERATION IS BECOMING DESPITE THE ROLLOUT OF NEW TRAINS"

"SWT SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE FROM THE STATISTICS"; COMMUTER SAYS "OBSCENE"

COMPLAINT FROM A WITLEY COMMUTER

COMPLAINT FROM A TOTTON COMMUTER

COMPLAINT FROM A STAINES COMMUTER

COMPLAINTS FROM A NEW MILTON RAIL USER

CUSTOMER "SERVICE" AT SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL

MORE ABOUT MISLEADING CLAIMS BY STAGECOACH

OUR GROUP'S PUBLISHED LETTERS

RAIL PERFORMANCE REPORTS

TONBRIDGE MEETING OF THE RAIL PASSENGERS COMMITTEE

SOUTHERN COUNTIES RAILWAY SOCIETY MEETING

THE UNFRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT OF FRATTON STATION

BBC WHISTLE BLOWER PROGRAMME

MISCELLANEA

NORTH SOMERSET CYCLE CAMPAIGN

ADDITIONAL PRESS RESEARCH

EXAMPLES OF THE GROUP'S PAST ACTIVITIES

Later evening service from Waterloo to Totton introduced after meetings with the then BR management.

Following our complaint, the Railway Inspectorate visited Bournemouth train depot and confirmed dangerous finger traps on the corridor connections between the carriages of the Wessex Electric trains - danger is now permanently marked with hazard warning tape.

Our Memorandum, published in the Transport Select Committee's report on franchising, argued that awarding the SWT franchise to Stagecoach was a betrayal of passengers' interests (Mainstream thinking because new SWT franchise later cut from 20 years to 3?)

Our two complaints that SWT was for commercial purposes misrepresenting the scale of its commitment under a new franchise upheld by the Chief Adjudicator of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Our contribution to the Government's 'Big Conversation' argued that Richard Bowker's SRA was not seen to be partial in its franchising activities and was apparently bailing out Stagecoach through huge sums of taxpayers' money to SWT in return for dreadful performance. (Mainstream thinking because Mr Bowker has since left the SRA?)

HOW SWT MANIPULATES PUBLIC OPINION, INCLUDING ATTACK ON MPS: AN UPDATE

'E'motion' magazine is available on SWT's website. Increasingly copious supplies are being placed on trains and larger stations, with waist-high stands on the concourse at Waterloo.

The magazine regularly includes a section devoted to SWT's Passengers' Panel, purportedly the "independent" voice of SWT passengers under its Chairman, Sir Alan Greengross. The real intention appears to be to mislead passengers and present the company in optimum terms, contrary to the reality that it has consistently failed to give passengers and other taxpayers anything like value for money.

Edition No. 4 attacked MPs who support their constituents, by subtly accusing them of dishonesty: "The politician faced with a rail problem and little idea of how to deal with it cries "We have to put our passengers first". If they have no idea at all, "have" becomes "determined" [SWT grammar!] and they shout even more. Isn't there a saying "the louder they shout their innocence, the faster we count the spoons". This is hardly a passing remark, since the article is headed "Counting the spoons" in heavy coloured print.

Of course, SWT always puts passengers first. Their commitment is encapsulated by the comment of Graham Eccles, chief of Stagecoach Rail, whose head appears on the front cover of the November 2002 edition of 'Rail Professional' magazine, with the caption: "We won't hesitate to walk away" Stagecoach director Graham Eccles talks tough to the SRA on SWT.

Edition No. 6 suggests that SWT is more open with its passengers than is the Government: The comment "No one tells you what's going on" seems to dominate passengers' complaints lists. The Panel, from its first meeting, picked up on the problem of lack of information, and South West Trains, to its credit, has done much to address it. But what about the Government's ability to share information? What does it intend? What can we reasonably expect over the coming years? Are the problems of our railways capable of being solved and, if they are, is anyone going to do anything serious to get there? If plans alone solved anything, we would today be using the world's most perfect railways... Let us be clear, this is not an exercise in blame [!]. It is a plea to reintroduce reality and clarity into our rail plans. If, for a whole variety of reasons, we cannot have perfection, if the costs involved really have to be as high as experience seems to have taught us [the more than fourfold increase in subsidy which SWT squeezed out of the SRA, reportedly incurring enormous Treasury anger?], and if that sort of money just isn't available, is it too much that passengers be told honestly what is achievable - and how it is to be done? ... The lesson in communication that South West Trains has been learning applies as much to the Government as to train operators. "If only someone would tell us what is really going on it would make it all that much easier to bear".

The current edition, No. 7, illustrates just how tough and searching Sir Alan's questions can be when he is representing the "independent" voice of passengers and trying to find out "what is really going on": He interviews fellow Stagecoach director Allison Ingram. The background is that SWT is to hire only 665 new coaches worth (pro-rata) £545m, instead of the promised 785 new coaches worth £644m:

Sir Alan: "Could you give us some background to South West Trains' new fleet of 155 Desiro trains?

Answer: "The original train order was for 785 vehicles, costing £644m. Add to that the maintenance contract and the total order value is over £1bn. ....."

Sir Alan (nine questions later) "One billion pounds of new trains just for the South West Trains network is a huge sum of money. Are you happy with the outcome?"

Interestingly, in the Rail Professional article of November 2002, Graham Eccles stated "I'm a control freak and I'm most comfortable in a strict command and control environment". Does this, perchance, include use of highly misleading magazine articles?

Our Group will continue to monitor E'motion to see how far Stagecoach is prepared to go in attacking MPs and misleading its passengers whilst proclaiming that it is being open. Interestingly, the Rail Passengers' Committee for Southern England submitted an article about the new December timetable for publication in E'motion. The article sought to balance what the Committee saw as the positive points (greater regularity) and negative points (worse service for many passengers) in a very matter-of-fact way. It was not used.

MISREPRESENTATION OF THE NEW SWT TIMETABLE

SWT's presentation of their new timetable is based on a mind-bending distortion of the facts. Broadly speaking, the timetable reflects the fact that SWT is to lease 120 fewer coaches than promised, despite the more than fourfold increase in its subsidy which, according to railways expert Christian Wolmar, "angered the Treasury enormously and, indeed, helped to prompt the rail review" ('Rail' No. 495). It is to be recalled that Brian Souter, co-founder of SWT's parent company Stagecoach, once told 'Scotland on Sunday' that "ethics are not irrelevant but some are incompatible with what we have to do because capitalism is based on greed".

SWT was reportedly chosen as preferred bidder for the franchise renewal because of its "straightforward" approach. The new franchise was supposed to focus on capacity. In practice, SRA Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Bowker (who was a past colleague of Stagecoach Rail chief Graham Eccles, and whose father was a senior Stagecoach director) propped up the company with large sums of taxpayers' money. At the same time, SWT's performance became so abominable that Stephen Byers issued a strong warning shortly before his resignation.

SWT's big handouts and poor service coincided with the award of a much reduced franchise, (20 years to three) which was to focus on performance rather than capacity. There will be only a very small number of extra suburban trains in the peaks to meet greatly increased demand. Some 6,500 seats are therefore being stripped from inner-suburban trains to make room for more standing passengers whilst, for example, outer-suburban services from Waterloo to Basingstoke will regularly serve inner-suburban stations like Walton-on-Thames and Weybridge for the first time, and those from Waterloo to Alton will serve West Byfleet and Brookwood. Even in the peaks, these patterns continue in the less-busy direction of travel.

Longer-distance trains from Waterloo to Southampton and Portsmouth will in turn provide more stops at outer-suburban stations like Farnborough and Fleet. Passengers further along the line, such as those at Totton, New Milton, Christchurch, Liss, Liphook and Bentley will get an exceptionally poor pattern of service.

These changes will inevitably increase overcrowding, which was criticised in a recent Select Committee report, especially on longer-distance services. In addition, many connections will get worse. 'Rail' columnist Barry Doe, who loses no opportunity to praise Stagecoach, wrote in issue No. 497 that "improving connections can be a way of speeding up journeys without any investment at all". Quite so. Yet, by way of examples, connections from December will be such that passengers from Waterloo to stations in the densely populated belt between Southampton and Portsmouth will have to wait at Southampton Central for nearly half an hour for a connection instead of a few minutes. The same applies to Waterloo-Lymington passengers changing at Brockenhurst. Totton passengers wanting to catch the Wessex Trains' service from Southampton to Cardiff at around 06.50 will need to leave Totton at 06.07 instead of 06.36. And so on, seemingly ad infinitum.

Timetable patterns will also, in many cases, give taxpayers very poor returns for their money. They will pay for two trains an hour between Totton and Southampton, but the trains will run about ten minutes apart in every hour through the off-peak period. The two trains an hour from St Denys to Southampton run one minute apart. This latter awkwardness means that most SWT all-stations services from Fareham to Southampton Central have their timing inflated from 34 to 36 minutes. A sole daily all-stations service operated by Southern requires only 31 minutes.

Timings are similarly inflated for peak commuter trains. The fastest Poole-Waterloo commuter service on Mondays-Fridays (05.45) takes 124 minutes with 5 intermediate stops. Its predecessor (06.19) takes 120 minutes with 7 stops. The 05.45 stands three minutes each at Bournemouth, Brockenhurst and Southampton Central. It arrives at Brockenhurst at 06.11 and gets to Waterloo at 07.49 with 3 intermediate stops; on Saturdays it achieves these timings with additional stops at Totton, Eastleigh and Woking. The consequences are particularly dire for Totton commuters. They have no London service (other than with a 15 minute "connection" at Southampton Central) between 05.48 and 06.44. The predecessor services are 05.45, 06.05 and 06.36, and the new 06.44 is slower than the old 06.36. Some commuters who start work in Eastleigh at 07.30 will need to leave Totton at 06.07 to complete their 9 mile journey in time. SWT General Manager, Andrew Haines, in a letter to Dr Julian Lewis MP, expresses surprise that the new service is considered a downgrade!

The disbenefits for passengers were recognised well in advance. The Evening Standard of 16 January 2004 included big headlines: "Rewrite timetables, add five minutes and trains will be on time". The following extracts seem particularly pertinent: "Rail chiefs have found the ideal way to make trains run on time - by increasing the length of every journey by up to five minutes --- The astonishing proposal, which will infuriate under-pressure Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, comes from Network Rail ---- It will also increase fury among London commuters, many of whom suffer some of the worst train time-keeping in the country and who this month were forced to pay inflation-busting fare rises --- Changing all the timetables would cause huge confusion - and even more delays - on London routes --- Network Rail boasts that adding five minutes could improve punctuality figures from 80% to 83% before the next election --- Graham Eccles, head of rail at Stagecoach, owner of South West Trains, said the plan had "endorsement at the highest level" [Richard Bowker? His policies generally reflected Stagecoach's wishes - our contribution to the Government's 'Big Conversation' examined this issue in detail]. Mr Eccles, however, denied it was an attempt to massage the figures --- The train operators have rejected the idea, saying it was "unworkable" " [Except user-unfriendly Stagecoach, as we now know. SWT's passengers have latterly been pounded with the operator's "Every second counts" campaign, which aims to suggest that passengers themselves are to blame for delays by not boarding and alighting quickly enough. The real purpose of that campaign, when the major contributors to delay are defective SWT trains and non-availability of SWT crews, is now self-evident.]

Misrepresentation: "A timetable devised in 1967 no longer reflects the demands of 2004" (SWT leaflet)

The pre-December timetable is nothing like the 1967 timetable. For example, the preface to the 1967 timetable book states "The new pattern between London, Southampton and Bournemouth provides a faster, more frequent service throughout the day - express trains every two hours serving Southampton (70 mins), Bournemouth (100 mins) and principal stations to Weymouth only; these are supported by hourly semi-fast trains calling at principal points including Southampton Airport en route to Bournemouth (extended to Weymouth every other hour). An hourly stopping train service to Bournemouth, together with an hourly stopping service to Basingstoke combine to give a half-hourly service to stations between Brookwood and Basingstoke. The existing patterns of associated diesel services has been adjusted to provide good connections with the new electrified route..." [These "diesel services" included half-hourly Portsmouth-Southampton trains serving stations like Netley, Woolston and St Denys and alternately running through to Salisbury].

Since that time, the Waterloo-Weymouth fast services became hourly, with additional stops gradually introduced. The semi-fast services now terminate at Poole each hour and also have extra stops. The Waterloo-Bournemouth stopping services were withdrawn. Services from Waterloo to Southampton became every 20 minutes, then every 15 minutes, then half-hourly on one side of the hour and quarter-hourly on the other. The Portsmouth-Southampton/Salisbury local services have been reduced to an hourly train between Portsmouth and Southampton.

Off-peak, SWT service levels in the old and new 2004 timetables are, however, virtually identical (with slight variations in stopping patterns and extended journey times). The difference is that departures have been moved round the clockface, meaning that passengers who rely on connections often have much longer journey times.

Misrepresentation: "Over 80 local authorities and passenger user groups across our network have been consulted and where possible their feedback has been acted on" (SWT leaflet)

User Groups were not consulted and, ironically, we know this because of a letter from Andrew Haines (SWT General Manager) to Dr Julian Lewis MP. Mr Haines stated, "It would be impossible for us to carry out detailed consultation on something as radical as a completely new timetable and our established consultation processes are with County and District councils, the Rail Passengers Committees and elected representatives such as MPs. Whilst we did not carry out direct consultation with the South Hampshire Rail Users Group [NB SWT consulted us on their new restrictions on carrying cycles] they had the right to liaise with Hampshire County Council with whom we were in direct consultation."

In fact, the Group did liaise with the Rail Passengers Committee for Southern England (our statutory watchdog), but the Committee had been consulted by SWT on an "in confidence" basis. The very small amount of information the Committee was prepared to release about Totton's peak services, again "in confidence", was not adequate to get a rounded picture. The Committee accepted that there were problems, but advised that the timings were then very provisional and likely to change (presumably SWT's line). In fact the timings were not changed at all. It appears that none of the Committee's points were taken into account, contrary to what SWT's leaflet suggests. Quite why Mr Haines thinks our Group would have got more information from the County Council than from our statutory watchdog is a mystery.

Who was intended to get most from the new timetable - Stagecoach by receiving more taxpayers' subsidy for the Salisbury-Bristol line?

SWT's diesel fleet and crew appear less than adequate. On several occasions, the heavily-subsidised Totton-Romsey service has been suspended, or reduced to two-hourly frequency, because of defective rolling stock or crew shortage. On one occasion a Totton-Romsey service was cancelled at Totton following an announcement that a piece of the driving equipment came off in the driver's hand. The direct Reading-Brighton trains are axed between Reading and Basingstoke (the non-electrified section of this route) with monotonous regularity, indicating that no serviceable diesel train is available. Trains have run throughout from Waterloo to Exeter and Plymouth, even at busy evening times, with as few as 3 carriages. Last Good Friday the early train from Waterloo to Paignton shed its passengers after failing at Clapham Junction.

But SWT would like to cherry-pick several routes from the all-diesel Wessex franchise which is now expected to be transferred to Greater Western on re-franchising. These routes include Portsmouth-Southampton-Salisbury-Bath-Bristol-Newport-Cardiff - Inter-City in all but name. Some time ago, SWT published a booklet 'Moving forward with South West Trains" which made clear the company's cherry-picking intentions. Prominently on the back cover is stated: "Combining the Cardiff-Portsmouth and Waterloo-Exeter routes offers the opportunity to create more through services, such as Bristol-Waterloo, by inter-working services on the two routes. For example, a diesel unit could be detached from a Cardiff-Portsmouth train at Salisbury and attached there to a [SWT grammar] Exeter-Waterloo train to provide another through service between Cardiff / Bristol and Waterloo.

The original franchise proposal was to transfer SWT's Waterloo-Exeter service to Wessex Trains. SWT's question and answer on that idea are in the same booklet: Q: "Would combining the Wessex Trains' and South West Trains' diesel train fleets offer greater flexibility?" A: "The two train fleets are compatible and could be managed together. But the class 159s currently used on the Waterloo-Exeter route are renowned as the most reliable fleet of diesel trains in the UK. South West Trains would be concerned if less reliable [mainly class 158] diesel trains from the Wessex Trains' fleet were to be used on prime services into Waterloo following a transfer of the Waterloo-Exeter route to Wessex Trains as this could worsen the punctuality and reliability of both the Waterloo-Exeter route and consequently the rest of the South West Trains' network."

Richard Bowker's SRA gave SWT part of what it wanted, and a few SWT trains a day started running between Bristol and Waterloo. Passengers' perceptions are favourable because they are allowed to use the first class accommodation between Salisbury and Bristol (elsewhere on SWT this would be a crime attracting a penalty fare), a route for which only standard fares are available. The number of trains on this route is advertised as doubled in the new timetable. And as for those inferior units of the type operated by Wessex Trains, note this little aside in 'Rail' No. 500: "There has yet to be any progress for South West Trains in its bid to procure two '158s' for its new Bristol service. SWT said: "The SRA is driving the service. There are three options: increase services from December, which we are not optimistic we will be able to do, stay as we are yet stretch the fleet to its limit with the odd short-formed train [That happens too often already, sometimes to successive trains!], or stop the service, which we took on in good faith the SRA would source extra stock [A sign that Richard Bowker has gone and SWT will be less feathered-bedded in future?]

SPECTACULAR DECLINE IN SWT PEAK PERFORMANCE

Peak service punctuality on SWT has fallen steadily in recent months: 84.8% in the 4 weeks to 25 July; 82.0% in the 4 weeks to 22 August; 80.7% in the 4 weeks to 19 September; 74.4% in the 4 weeks to 17 October; and 66.1% in the 4 weeks to 14 November. This is way below the performance of most other operators.

COULD STAGECOACH "GREED" INDIRECTLY DESTROY THE RAILWAYS AS WE KNOW THEM, INCLUDING LYMINGTON LINE?

It often seems that Stagecoach's operation of SWT is characterised by lack of focus on passengers and thirst for money.

The first is amply illustrated by the new timetable which ignores passengers' needs and attempts to wallpaper the huge cracks in SWT's performance. An article in the Daily Telegraph of 13 November says it all:

"South West Trains has come up with a brilliant way of making its services run on schedule. It has had the brainwave of rewriting the timetable, introduced at the end of steam [Telegraph fooled by SWT's misrepresentation on this point; timetable has undergone huge evolution over the years!], so as to give all trains more time to get from A to B. Cynics may point out that the effect of this change will be to make the great majority of journey times longer. A more brutal way of putting it would be to say that, henceforth, almost all SWT services will be late.

But to put it like that would be to miss the sheer beauty of the scheme. SWT has struck on one of the great philosophical truths of all time: the lower the standards that you set yourself, the easier they are to meet. If it says in the timetable that the train will take two hours to take us from home to work, then how can we complain that it would have been quicker to walk?"

The lower standards will presumably have the desired effect of reducing refunds to season ticket holders to compensate for delays. In other words, commuters will suffer a double whammy: slower trains and reduced refunds for slow journeys. That's not to mention prospective fare increases soon after the downgraded timetable starts.

So let's turn now to Stagecoach Chairman, Brian Souter's belief that "Ethics are not irrelevant but some are incompatible with what we have to do because capitalism is based on greed". We can follow this through to the interview in 'Rail Professional' (November 1992) with Stagecoach Rail's Graham Eccles: "Eccles hints that there is a real possibility that Stagecoach will walk away from the [SWT] franchise if it can't reach an agreement with the SRA. 'If we can't get our terms we won't hesitate to walk away' ".

As we now know, the SRA, headed by Richard Bowker whose father was a Stagecoach director, and who was himself a former colleague of Mr Eccles, gave SWT a more than fourfold increase in subsidy. According to railways expert Christian Wolmar, this "angered the Treasury enormously and, indeed helped to prompt the rail review" ('Rail' No 495).

As part of the rail review, the Department for Transport is considering the future of 56 lines, including SWT's Brockenhurst-Lymington branch. If the use and revenue of these lines do not increase, they could close. But the new SWT timetable, with its much longer waits for Lymington connections at Brockenhurst, is all too likely to lose custom. Compare this with the approach of National Express, which has just transformed many trains on a similarly-threatened line (Lowestoft-Ipswich) into direct services to and from London, making them much more attractive and competitive. In addition, National Express is expected to be paying the Treasury £500m a year by 2011 [Evening Standard 30/1/2004] for its London Eastern franchise. If they achieve that target, little chance of line closures in East Anglia?

ANOTHER COMMUTER REVOLT AGAINST SWT

The Evening Standard of 19 November reported a commuter revolt comparable with previous incidents, like the Farnham sit-in and the famous "Siege of Basingstoke" when SWT tried to leave West of England line passengers stranded overnight. In this latest incident, the 19.17 Waterloo-Shepperton, running 45 minutes late, had reached Fulwell, three stops short of Shepperton. Passengers were told the train would terminate and another was 4 minutes behind. When they got off, they saw that the next train was in fact 30 minutes behind, the rain was hammering down, and the shelter was only large enough for about 10 people. Passengers therefore had a sit-in and the train continued to Shepperton 15 minutes later. A commuter reported that "Everybody was furious".

SWT reportedly said they would look into why a wrong announcement was made. The article does not indicate that they had not intended that passengers should be thrown off.

SWT FIASCO DUE TO DOOR FAILURE

On Friday 29 October, the 10-coach 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth was even more overcrowded than usual due to commuters, weekend travellers and returning half-term day-trippers. So crowded in fact, that the guard felt the need to announce that passengers tempted to sit in first class would be surcharged. In addition, he asked soon after departure from Waterloo whether any members of staff were on board.

At the first stop - Winchester - the reason for the second announcement became apparent - the train doors had suffered total failure. Nobody could get on or off. There was a delay of around 15 minutes while doors were opened manually from the platform, coach by coach, using release valves. Passengers for Southampton Airport Parkway were then ordered off as it was too much effort to perform the ritual there as well. The train then had a very slow run behind the 17.14 Romsey-Totton stopping train, which departed from Southampton Central just ahead of its arrival, causing additional delay for Totton passengers.

The 16.30 spent 10 minutes at Southampton Central during which time there was huge chaos, with passengers able to use only selected doors released individually by station staff. Passengers arriving on the platform from the footbridge had to file aboard a single door in a queue. Eventually staff closed doors using the release valves again, and simply ignored the pleas of other passengers who wanted to board. The train departed about 30 minutes late at 18.13.

We wonder how quickly passengers could evacuate if such a duff train were involved in a serious mishap.

SWT LEAVES HUNDREDS STRANDED IN WIND AND RAIN

The News, Portsmouth, of 28 October 2004 reported that hundreds of passengers were left stranded in the wind and rain when trains were delayed. Problems began when the previous day's 18.32 Waterloo-Portsmouth service broke down north of Rowlands Castle. The fault delayed other services for several hours. Some passengers were diverted to Woking to get back to Portsmouth and coaches were laid on. But the breakdown left hundreds of furious commuters stranded on platforms for hours. Lisa Davies, from South West Trains, said: 'We would like to apologise to everyone affected by this problem. It can't have been pleasant to stand on a cold and wet platform for hours. [Presumably this cost SWT less than trying to get taxis.] We worked as hard as we could to get the problem fixed.'

AWFUL EXPERIENCES OF SWT TRAVEL BY A BENTLEY COMMUTER

The Alton Herald of 17 September contains a complaint from a Bentley commuter that the revised timetable from December will mean getting up earlier in the morning whilst some return evening trains will omit his stop in order to save one minute in running time. He offers a few experiences which he is sure the paper 's readers will relate to:

"I have been rained on inside the carriage; I have been clamped because the station was unmanned and I could not buy a parking ticket in morning peak hours (even when I left a note); I have politely stood for 30 minutes to buy a ticket with only one person in front of me and still been given the wrong ticket; I have lost count of the times I have been kicked off the train at Farnham, Aldershot or some other station; I have regularly had to travel to Guildford to catch a train when the Bentley train was cancelled; I have had to escort my children, at the suggestion of the SW trains staff, half a mile to a McDonalds so that they could go to the loo because the loo on Woking (yes Woking) station was locked (after being kicked off another broken train) and of course who could forget the recent experience of a two-and-a-half hour journey from London Waterloo to Clapham Junction with broken air conditioning?".

He concludes that the latest timetable plan appears to be a determined effort by SWT to inconvenience, even more, those who over the years have had to endure such a poor service. He is never surprised at the lengths SWT will go to make travelling more difficult for Bentley commuters; clearly, he says, there is no end to their capabilities.

SWT STAFF "DON'T GIVE ME ANY HELP" BY EARLSFIELD MOTHER

The Evening Standard of 8 October contains a complaint from an Earlsfield rail user who states: "Using London's rail system and the Underground with a pram or pushchair is no joke. My local [SWT] station, Earlsfield, doesn't give me any help going up the stairs".

MAXIMISING PROFITS FROM COMMUTER MISERY

A letter in the Evening Standard of 5/11/04 states "Recently, I was travelling on the 07.08 [SWT train] from Surbiton. It was one of the old trains and, because all the seats were taken, I was forced to stand in the narrow corridor outside the first class seats (mostly empty) and soon began to feel sick as the train rocked from side to side. As I was about to take a seat in first class, four ticket inspectors started fining people for sitting there even though there was nowhere else left to stand."

[The writer should commute from Salisbury to Bristol. Tickets on this route are standard class only, but SWT now runs a few trains a day with first class seating, which standard class season ticket holders greatly appreciate. It will be interesting to see whether SWT claims that passengers prefer their trains, if Stagecoach bids for the Great Western franchise which includes the Salisbury-Bristol route.]

"IS THERE ANY ORGANISATION THAT IS SO OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE NEEDS OF ITS CUSTOMERS AS SOUTH WEST TRAINS?"

The Alton Herald of 27 August quotes an Alton commuter who considers that SWT's downgrading of services on his line from December is yet another example of how ill-served the public has been since privatisation. He asks where public policy-making stands in all this. Does the Government really want commuting squeezed into narrow morning and evening peaks? We should be encouraging flexible working and staggered start times, as many employers are trying to do. The new timetable will have the reverse effect. SWT needs to understand that the protests now beginning will not be a temporary "whinge" which blows over.

The same paper, on 17 September, reports the views of Alton line passengers that they are being treated like "third class citizens". MPs Michael Mates, Virginia Bottomley and James Arbuthnot are supporting passengers' pressure to retain a better service. The paper has received a mounting pile of correspondence complaining about the new timetable, with fewer peak trains and slower journey times. Mrs Bottomley has pointed out that a vast number of local people depend on the line to commute to work, school or college, and there is huge pressure on local roads, with Farnham frequently facing gridlock at peak times.

[The next franchising round is likely to be crucial to the future prospects for SWT passengers. We need the kind of people who made GNER, Chiltern, C2C and Anglia success stories to be put in charge. At least we can then be sure that the service is as good as we can reasonably expect. In simple terms it involves more focus on passengers and better value for money.]

"HOW POOR THE WHOLE SWT OPERATION IS BECOMING DESPITE THE ROLLOUT OF NEW TRAINS"

The Alton Herald of 27 August also contains a complaint from another Alton rail user who writes that "On several occasions, members of my family and myself have only just made important and long-standing appointments, and the whole SWT experience seems designed to increase the stress of the journey rather than remove it". He considers that a proposal to bombard SWT with protests is a waste of time as they tend to deal with customer comments in the same way as they run their railway - very slowly, and generally resulting in little or no satisfaction. A complaint direct to SWT's website resulted in a response six weeks later. The presence of "passenger representation groups" with no actual power is simply a placebo and the only way to get SWT to sit up and notice is to start boycotting their services. [We learn from the Kingston Area Travellers' Association that, earlier this year, a member resigned from SWT's Passengers' Panel saying passengers' suggestions were rarely acted on and she considered it a waste of time].

"SWT SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE FROM THE STATISTICS"; COMMUTER SAYS "OBSCENE"

The Southern Daily Echo of 28 September reports that SWT is spending £750,000 telling passengers how good it is, four days after statistics revealed it has the worse record for lateness. A conference organiser who commutes on SWT told the paper "This is an obscene amount of money for SWT to be spending blowing its own trumpet when the service is so bad. The money should be spent on improving the service". SWT claimed that their performance (82.4%) for the 4-week period to 18 September was the best 4-week performance for three years. [This is not true of SWT's peak performance, which affects the greatest concentration of passengers; it dipped to 80.7% in the same period, confirming the deteriorating trend recorded in the preceding period]

COMPLAINT FROM A WITLEY COMMUTER

[Received 6/10/2004] "Currently I travel on the 06.11 from Witley to Clapham Junction, arriving at 07.02 in time to catch the 07.08 to Kensington Olympia. Both sections of the journey from home to office have new timetables from 12/12/2004. The new timetable shows the train will not stop at Witley. I will only be able to travel on the 05.41 or 06.38. The 05.41 arrives at Clapham Junction at 06.30 and the Olympia train departs at 06.49 - approximately 20 minutes wasted. The 06.38 arrives at Clapham Junction at 07.26 and the Olympia train departs at 07.35 - I hope the train from Witley arrives on time as the next service from Clapham Junction to Olympia is at 07.57.

If I get the 05.41, the earliest I could leave the office would be 14.47, assuming 30 minutes for lunch. Time to walk to the station is about 10 minutes. The 15.17 train gets to Clapham Junction at 15.28 and the Witley train leaves the latter at 15.52 - about 20 minutes wasted at Olympia and 24 minutes at Clapham Junction. If I get the 06.38, the earliest I could leave the office would be 15.34. The 15.47 train gets to Clapham Junction at 15.58 and the Witley train leaves the latter at 16.22 - again 24 minutes wasted at Clapham Junction.

To say the least there will be much inconvenience!

COMPLAINT FROM A TOTTON COMMUTER

[Received 7/10/04] This morning I attempted to board the 06.36 from Totton to Eastleigh with my bike. The train was composed of two Wessex Electric units. When it arrived there were insufficient spaces in the bike rack for the bikes attempting to get on. Fine I thought, I'll lock my bike up at the station and travel on foot. While the other bikes were loading I asked the Guard to "Hang on for a sec" while I walked 40 feet to the bike rack. This he refused to do and left myself and another biker on the platform. The train service is supposed to be run for the benefit of passengers, not leave them on the platform for the sake of 20 seconds. I was further dismayed when the brake coach of the second unit passed by and the bike rack was completely empty. I had to cycle 3 miles to Southampton and get a train to Eastleigh where I got to work 26 minutes late.

I'd therefore request that SWT consider the use of both bike racks during peak times. If there is an issue with passengers using the inward opening guards door why can they not enter using the pneumatic door and walk through the coach to the Guard's compartment.

COMPLAINT FROM A STAINES COMMUTER

[Received 8/11/2004] "Four carriages on the train this morning. Same story about youths breaking windows. Very considerate of those youths to break them in only one part of the train so that at least SW Trains can provide some service. We were told they were youths. Does this mean SWT know? Did someone see them? Are they sure it was not a disgruntled ex-employee or an angry passenger? Easy to blame youths when perhaps there is a much less dramatic explanation such as poor maintenance or rolling stock in wrong place because of weekend disruption."

COMPLAINTS FROM A NEW MILTON RAIL USER

[Extract from letter to SWT dated 16/11/04] Travel to employment and full-time education by train is a priority for many and such a train for this is the 08.08 (Mondays-Fridays) to the main destination of Southampton Central from New Milton, a still growing town of 25,000. New residential flats are still being built in view of New Milton station and passenger numbers seem to increase at all hours. This has been a very well used and needed train since I would suggest 1947, let alone 1967. Yet in the new timetable it will be replaced by a slower alternative. I believe most people will not be satisfied with sitting 15 minutes at Brockenhurst or changing there on to an already crowded "fast" every winter morning at that time. Similarly from the other lost stops from Pokesdown to Sway. This decision hardly inspires confidence.

On Saturdays the last Bournemouth-New Milton-Southampton-Waterloo train will become 22.07 instead of 23.32. In January 1998, SWT timetable manager Joe Horsley wrote saying that having looked at the later train, "we find that there is still a genuine reason for its continued operation, departing Bournemouth at 23.32 and continuing through to London Waterloo rather than terminating at either Eastleigh or Basingstoke". Since 1998 even more entertainment venues provided in Southampton and even more government suggestion to travel home safely by public transport.

Currently there is a good 22.10 connection at Brockenhurst for intermediate stations to Bournemouth, like New Milton, out of a Virgin Trains' service from the North and Birmingham, a fast service from London, and the last train from Lymington. All this will be lost. Virgin passengers will henceforth have a wait of 55 minutes (waiting room locked up) at that time, with the previous service not much better.

Finally, Beaulieu Road may not offer much potential, but the future Saturday service of no trains either way after 08.27 is ludicrous. Even a minimal service should make some sense.

CUSTOMER "SERVICE" AT SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL

On 5 November the 16.30 from Waterloo arrived at Southampton Central about 11 minutes late. Passengers for the 17.47 to Portsmouth spotted that their train had not yet departed. The railman standing next to the train saw them rushing down the footbridge steps and immediately waved the train away, yelling at them to stand clear. The furious passengers managed to stop the doors from fully closing while they squeezed aboard.

On 6 November trains were severely disrupted by engineering works between Southampton Central and Winchester. A time to mitigate delays for passengers as far as possible? Not on SWT. A marginally delayed train from Poole drew up behind the 10.47 Southampton-Portsmouth. As the doors of the Poole trains opened, staff sent off the Portsmouth train.

On 8 November, the train to form the 17.42 Southampton-Westbury was late arriving. Due to SWT's inadequate information system, the 17.47 Southampton-Portsmouth, which starts from the same platform, departed while the screen next to it still displayed "1. 17.42 Westbury". One furious young woman was overheard swearing into her mobile phone because this caused her to miss the Portsmouth train.

On 11 November, the identical Desiro trains on the 17.47 Southampton-Portsmouth and 17.55 Southampton-Brockenhurst were switched between their usual platforms. It was therefore the 17.55 which was advertised as "1. Westbury". A couple of passengers, who noted that the 17.55 was unusually full, managed to alert some of those on board, and a score of regular passengers raced across the platform and caught the 17.47 just before it departed. SWT staff maintained their distance, with the lack of focus on customers which - as our records show - is so often the hallmark of this operator.

On Friday 19 November, Wessex Trains' 15.09 service from Southampton Central to Cardiff and Penzance was announced by SWT as going to Cardiff, with no mention of the Penzance portion. Confused passengers who took a look at SWT's departures screen saw that the train was advertised as going to Cardiff and St Austell, but with no explanation.

Tuesday 23 November produced the kind of incident that stretches human credibility. The 17.47 Southampton-Portsmouth was formed of an old outer-suburban unit with slam doors to every seating bay, presumably because of yet another Desiro failure. The train's departure from Southampton's platform 2 was delayed about one minute by a red signal. A railman was standing right alongside the rear of the train. A young man walked up to him and asked politely if it was the Portsmouth train. At that moment the signal turned green. The railman blew his whistle and waved the train away. He then replied to the passenger, "Yes. But you've missed it now. Stand clear". Earlier that day, a passenger sitting on the 10.15 to London reports that no announcement was made on the train until 10.30, when it was announced that the train had a tube problem and wouldn't depart until about 10.45, which it duly did.

Thursday 25 November. Some passengers clearly confused that the 17.47 To Portsmouth was sitting next to the screen showing: "1. Westbury", the Westbury train being at the far end of the platform with the only available SWT railman hovering close to it. One young woman looked at the printed timetable sheets; whilst she turned her back, both trains departed and she tramped over the footbridge looking dejected.

MORE ABOUT MISLEADING CLAIMS BY STAGECOACH

From Private Eye No 1117: "Stagecoach and Virgin Trains (half owned by Stagecoach) are determined to convince the public that new trains are a result of their own largesse. In June 2000 Virgin told Eye readers that "Virgin is investing over £2.8bn in new trains". In fact the trains were actually bought by banks for under £1bn and were temporarily leased to Virgin. Most of Virgin's claimed investment was future maintenance charges and Virgin has been repeating the same lie ever since.

In 2002 Stagecoach's South West Trains was rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming that it had ordered 785 "trains" when the real figure was 785 carriages. SWT argued that the leaflet in question was "public relations material" and not governed by the ASA's code (ie leaving SWT free to lie).

Now an SWT press ad says "South West Trains has placed the UK's biggest ever train order of 155 new trains at a cost of £1bn." Most people would read that to mean that, er, SWT is investing £1bn in trains; even the Evening Standard's transport editor was fooled. In fact Angel Trains leasing company is buying them, the value of the order placed in 2001 was £640m, and 30 of the trains in that order won't now be used by SWT.

SWT's ad gives no credit to the people who are really funding the new trains: Britain's taxpayers. Last year SWT's subsidy rose 400 per cent, ostensibly to cover leases on new trains. Over its three-year franchise, SWT will get £8.70 subsidy for every man, woman and child in the UK."

SOUTH HAMPSHIRE RAIL USERS' GROUP'S PUBLISHED LETTERS

Southern Daily Echo 29/9/2004

PASSENGERS FACE DOUBLE BLOW WITH A WORSE SERVICE

Hythe residents who are to be denied a train service (Daily Echo, 23 September) will find a much worse service at Totton from 13th December. Details of revised times are on the journey planning facility on the National Rail website.

The 6.05am to Waterloo, introduced to relieve overcrowding, will be replaced by a stopping service to Yeovil Junction. The 6.20am to Winchester will be axed in favour of a Waterloo service which will not serve Totton. The 6.36am to Waterloo will be replaced by a slower 06.44 train.

Although commuters will generally get to London later than now, the popular return services at 5.15pm and 5.45pm will leave ten minutes earlier. Those returning later will find Totton services halved, as there will no longer be connections off the Waterloo-Weymouth trains.

Meanwhile, SWT's performance continues to deteriorate, with punctuality more than three per cent worse in April-June than in the same period of 2003.

Evening Standard 1/10/2004

HOW CAN FEWER CARRIAGES MAKE TRAIN SERVICE BETTER?

South West Trains can well afford to spend £750,000 presenting failure as success (27 September). It is to hire 120 fewer new carriages than promised.

Even as your article appeared there was chaos on the tracks out of Waterloo because of train failures, with the 08.57 Alton-Waterloo advertised on the National Rail website, but not by SWT, as 100 minutes late.

Totton-London commuters like myself now face a winter timetable with a gap of an hour in our morning peak service, with one train replaced by a service to Yeovil, one not stopping at our station and one both retimed and slowed down. We will get to work later and the popular evening return services will leave 10 minutes earlier. SWT say their changes will better meet current needs, but whose?

RAIL PERFORMANCE REPORTS

Note: These details are snapshots, based on passengers' own experiences and website information. The Group does not have the resources to provide a full picture of the performance shortcomings which passengers suffer. We are able to provide fuller coverage on some days than on others. Please note that trains can become increasingly late during the course of their journeys - or make up time where stops are omitted and passengers thrown off - and the "minutes late" figures may not represent the position at the end of a journey.

29/9/04 05.34 Bournemouth-Waterloo axed. 05.57 Weymouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 06.32 Weymouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late due to duff stock. 06.57 Aldershot-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 07.17 Basingstoke-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 07.23 Poole-Brockenhurst axed between Poole and Bournemouth. 07.43 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 08.25 Guildford-Waterloo 24 minutes late due to no stock. 08.48 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo 16 minutes late; 09.47 15 minutes late due to no stock. 11.26 Waterloo-Hampton Court 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Surbiton omitted. 15.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late due to duff stock. 15.48 Poole-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 15.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late; Clapham Junction stop omitted for operational convenience.

30/9/04 06.38 Portsmouth-Waterloo cancelled. 07.12 Waterloo-Windsor omitted all stops before Staines. 07.54 Woking-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 09.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth cancelled due to no crew. 09.22 Basingstoke-Brighton axed between Fareham and Brighton due to duff stock. 15.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 16.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 16.26 Waterloo-Portsmouth 16 minutes late. 16.54 Waterloo-Weybridge 16 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 17.55 Southampton-Brockenhurst and 18.44 Brockenhurst-Southampton axed due to no driver. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 18.33 Waterloo-Shepperton and 19.37 Shepperton-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 18.51 Weybridge-Waterloo 13 minutes late.

1/10/04 04.58 Poole-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 08.33 Waterloo-Plymouth delayed about 9 minutes at Basingstoke, due to no crew. 16.35 Waterloo-Exeter over 10 minutes late, causing similar delay to the 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo which had to be held in the passing loop at Chard; the advertised at-seat trolley service on the 1710 came aboard at Yeovil Junction at about 19.40! 19.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 20.24 Reading-Waterloo 12 minutes late. Passengers on the 21.30 Waterloo-Weymouth thrown off at Bournemouth due to no driver.

2/10/04 11.30 Exeter-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 14.00 Waterloo-Poole 15 minutes late; 15.00 18 minutes late. 14.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 12 minutes late; 15.18 15 minutes late. 15.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 15.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth 16 minutes late. 15.30 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham due to duff stock. 15.33 Waterloo-Penzance 20 minutes late by Salisbury. 15.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 15.42 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 15.47 Southampton-Portsmouth 57 minutes late due to no crew; all stops between Southampton and Fareham omitted for operational convenience. 15.55 Southampton-Waterloo 31 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 17.45 Waterloo-Southampton axed between Waterloo and Woking. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.15 Woking-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 18.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 22 minutes late. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 19.56 Waterloo-Reading 25 minutes late; all intermediate stops between Ascot and Reading omitted for operational convenience. 20.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed. 20.43 Windsor-Waterloo cancelled. 20.45 Waterloo-Guildford cancelled. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 33 minutes late. 21.40 Brighton-Salisbury 32 minutes late.

3/10/04 07.31 Salisbury-Exeter 43 minutes late. 09.00 Honiton-Waterloo 43 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 09.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 35 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Haslemere axed for operational convenience. 09.45 Exeter-Waterloo 32 minutes late. 10.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 14.16 Penzance-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 16.10 Brighton-Reading 46 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 18.10 Brighton-Westbury 15 minutes late. 18.55 Reading-Portsmouth axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 19.05 Yeovil-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 19.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 26 minutes late due to no stock.

4/10/04 13.48 Poole-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 14.52 Waterloo-Chessington 16 minutes late. 15.08 Paignton-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 17.54 Waterloo-Weybridge 22 minutes late. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 18.18 Epsom-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth reduced to 5 coaches. 18.34 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham. 18.34 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 18.37 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 18.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.54 Salisbury-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 19.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.25 Guildford-Ascot 17 minutes late. 20.07 Weymouth-Waterloo 22 minutes late due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Poole.

5/10/04 15.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth cancelled due to duff stock. 15.57 Brighton-Reading ran only between Worthing and Basingstoke due to duff stock. 17.03 Weybridge-Waterloo cancelled due to duff stock. 18.39 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke due to duff stock. 21.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 22 minutes late.

6/10/04 05.41 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 08.25 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late due to duff stock. Passengers on the 08.30 Waterloo-Weymouth thrown off at Woking due to duff stock. 11.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 34 minutes late due to no crew; stops at Godalming, Farncombe, Woking and Clapham Junction axed for operational convenience. 14.33 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 14.52 Waterloo-Reading delayed due to no crew. 15.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo cancelled due to duff stock. 16.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 21 minutes late due to no crew. 16.42 Reading-Waterloo axed between Reading and Ascot. 16.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 17.04 Guildford-Waterloo suffered failure at London Road, Guildford and ran 16 minutes late; 17.47 diverted via Woking, omitting all intermediate stops before Surbiton. 17.18 Epsom-Waterloo cancelled due to duff stock. 18.33 Waterloo-Shepperton and 19.37 Shepperton-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 19.03 Waterloo-Alton 30 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Farnham. 19.17 Waterloo-Woking via Staines diverted to Weybridge; passengers for Byfleet & New Haw, West Byfleet and Woking thrown off. 20.07 Alton-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.31 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham. 21.21 Staines-Waterloo 27 minutes late.

8/10/04 Duff train in the Wimbledon area brought evening chaos. 15.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth cancelled. 17.18 Waterloo-Alton 17 minutes late. 17.26 Waterloo-Guildford 22 minutes late. 17.33 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.36 Waterloo-Basingstoke 24 minutes late. 17.37 Shepperton-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 17.42 Waterloo-Guildford 16 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 20 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 18 minutes late; omitted all intermediate stops after Twickenham except Richmond, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall. 17.45 Woking-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 17.47 Guildford-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.49 Waterloo-Dorking 16 minutes late. 17.51 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late. 18.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 39 minutes late; ran non-stop from Basingstoke to Waterloo. 18.04 Woking-Waterloo 41 minutes late; all intermediate stops omitted for operational convenience. 18.08 Waterloo-Haslemere axed between Waterloo and Woking. 18.08 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.12 Waterloo-Guildford 20 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Effingham Junction. 18.15 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 20 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Richmond omitted. 18.18 Epsom-Waterloo cancelled. 18.33 Chessington-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 18.36 Guildford-Waterloo 28 minutes late. 18.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.47 Guildford-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.51 Basingstoke-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 19.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 19.16 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 20 minutes late; omitted all intermediate stops after Twickenham. 19.17 Guildford-Waterloo 15 minutes late; axed between Guildford and Effingham Junction. 19.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 19.33 Chessington-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 19.49 Dorking-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 19.56 Waterloo-Hampton Court 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Surbiton axed. Duff stock on 20.47 Waterloo-Weybridge; passengers thrown off at Queenstown Road Battersea. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 21.37 Shepperton-Waterloo axed between Shepperton and Fulwell. 22.07 Shepperton-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops after Twickenham, even though advertised as running on time. 22.30 Weybridge-Staines axed due to duff stock.

9/10/04 Catastrophic shortage of train crews caused the Brockenhurst-Wareham service to be withdrawn all day. Passengers on the 08.05 and 09.05 Brockenhurst-Wareham thrown off at Bournemouth; hourly service from 10.05 to 18.05, plus the 19.05 and 20.05 Brockenhurst-Poole, all axed. Hourly service from Wareham to Brockenhurst axed from 08.50 to 18.50 inclusive. 08.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 28 minutes late; 09.48 17 minutes late; 17.48 11 minutes late. 09.48 and 18.48 Poole-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 10.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 11.27 Guildford-Ascot 21 minutes late. 11.52 Waterloo-Reading 20 minutes late due to duff stock. 12.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 6 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Norbiton axed for operational convenience. Passengers on the 16.00 Waterloo-Poole thrown off at Basingstoke due to duff stock; hour's gap in the service at some stations. 18.24 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo cancelled due to duff stock. 19.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 20.07 Weymouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.26 Waterloo-Reading 22 minutes late due to no crew. 21.54 Reading-Waterloo axed between Reading and Ascot.

10/10/04 10.09 Waterloo-Basingstoke 16 minutes late. 12.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 28 minutes late. 13.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth 20 minutes late. 14.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 31 minutes late. 14.55 Bournemouth-Waterloo axed between Bournemouth and Southampton due to cancellation of a previous service. 16.28 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late.

11/10/04 08.10 Waterloo-Basingstoke axed. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo delayed 9 minutes at Southampton due to duff stock. 16.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter 18 minutes late. Passengers on the 18.37 Waterloo-Reading thrown off at Clapham Junction due to duff stock. 18.40 Waterloo-Havant 15 minutes late. 19.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo axed between Reading and Ascot due to duff stock. 20.15 Yeovil-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 21.26 Waterloo-Reading 16 minutes late; all stops before Staines omitted for operational convenience.

12/10/04 05.42 Poole-Waterloo over 10 minutes late; no explanation. Broken down train caused early afternoon chaos on the Chessington line. 15.04 Guildford-Waterloo stopping service 'altered' into an Oxshott-Waterloo fast service. 15.47 Guildford-Waterloo cancelled due to no crew. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late; 17.42 12 minutes late. 16.45 Waterloo-Poole formed of 8 coaches of outer-suburban Desiro stock: very crowded and cramped; although buffet trolley provided, passengers encountered difficulty in finding room on the floor to pour milk into their coffees; duff door had to be isolated at Woking, causing 10 minutes delay; although 61/2 carriages fitted into Totton station, doors could be opened on 4 carriages only. It had become clear why a couple who said they had travelled on these trains before had decided to wait at Waterloo for the next service [The 16.45 is now regularly formed of this stock]. 16.50 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 5 coaches due to duff stock. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 19.24 Reading-Waterloo 18 minutes late; stops between Staines and Waterloo axed for operational convenience. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 20.03 Chessington-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 20.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo, 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo and 20.47 Guildford-Waterloo all 11 minutes late. 20.47 Waterloo-Weybridge 30 minutes late due to no crew.

13/10/04 05.01 Basingstoke-Waterloo 30 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Woking omitted for operational convenience. 07.20 Wareham-Waterloo 10 minutes late. At 15.30 all mainline arrivals at Waterloo advertised as delayed. 15.45 Waterloo-Southampton axed due to duff stock; 16.00 Waterloo-Poole very overcrowded with passengers unable to reach the buffet. 17.13 Basingstoke-Waterloo 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Woking axed. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 39 minutes late; all intermediate stops between Havant and Guildford axed. 17.42 Poole-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.18 Epsom-Waterloo 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Raynes Park axed. 18.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.53 Waterloo-Chessington 14 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Motspur Park axed. 18.54 Salisbury-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.24 Waterloo-Guildford cancelled due to duff stock. 19.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 19.33 Chessington-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 21.06 Woking-Staines axed.

14/10/04 06.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 07.10 Haslemere-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 14.00 Waterloo-Poole 15 minutes late. 14.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 14.30 Waterloo-Guildford 19 minutes late. 14.48 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 14 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Twickenham axed for operational convenience. 15.23 Ascot-Guildford axed between Ascot and Aldershot. 15.49 Dorking-Waterloo axed between Dorking and Leatherhead. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.37 Shepperton-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.55 Southampton-Brockenhurst and 18.44 Brockenhurst-Southampton axed due to no crew. 17.58 Waterloo-Basingstoke reduced to 8 coaches. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.19 Dorking-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 19.54 Portsmouth-Winchester 53 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Fareham. 20.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 32 minutes late. 20.32 Portsmouth-Southampton 24 minutes late. 20.54 Portsmouth-Winchester 11 minutes late. 21.09 Winchester-Portsmouth axed between Winchester and Fareham.

15/10/04 07.17 Basingstoke-Waterloo axed. 08.18 Waterloo-Guildford ran non-stop to Surbiton for operational convenience. 13.48 Poole-Waterloo 45 minutes late. 14.22 Waterloo-Reading 15 minutes late due to no crew. 14.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo delayed due to duff stock. 14.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 14.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late due to no crew. 14.55 Southampton-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 15.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 35 minutes late and axed between Waterloo and Southampton due to no driver. 16.00 Waterloo-Poole axed due to duff stock. 16.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke due to duff stock. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 36 minutes late due to earlier duff train. 16.32 Waterloo-Basingstoke delayed 10 minutes outside Waterloo due to duff signalling - some carriages of this 8 coach train had as few as three passengers; an 'at seat trolley service' was repeatedly announced but failed to materialise. Desiro from hell: for many passengers the 16.45 Waterloo-Poole was the next service after the cancelled 16.00 because of the severe delay to the 16.30 to Weymouth on this busy Friday evening; inhuman overcrowding in the 8 coach outer-suburban train. Many of the passengers compacted into the vestibules found that there were no grab rails to steady themselves; one passenger heard to comment on her mobile that it was an awful train and a journey from hell. 17.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth 14 minutes late. 17.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late due to duff stock. 18.36 Guildford-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 19.07 Waterloo-Reading 16 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Ascot. 19.24 Reading-Waterloo 43 minutes late due to a bridge being hit by a road vehicle; all intermediate stops after Staines axed for operational convenience. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo axed. 20.24 Reading-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 21.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 21 minutes late. 22.06 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to no crew.

16/10/04 Passengers on the 06.39 Waterloo-Guildford thrown off at Vauxhall due to duff stock. 21.02 Waterloo-Kingston axed. 21.49 Kingston-Waterloo axed. 22.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo axed.

17/10/04 10.24 Portsmouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 10.57 Reading-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 11.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 28 minutes late. 11.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Clapham Junction. 11.17 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 12 minutes late; 11.18 18 minutes late. 11.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 30 minutes late. 11.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 35 minutes late. 11.45 Woking-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 11.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth 14 minutes late. 11.50 Hounslow-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 13.09 Waterloo-Guildford axed between Waterloo and Clapham Junction. 13.17 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed between Waterloo and Barnes. 13.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 12 minutes late. 13.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 14.02 Windsor-Waterloo 42 minutes late. 14.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 14.44 Basingstoke-Southampton 27 minutes late. 14.51 Basingstoke-Yeovil Junction 26 minutes late. 15.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 15.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 16.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 16.55 Bournemouth-Basingstoke 15 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth 21 minutes late. CANCELLED DUE TO NO GUARD: 19.39 Salisbury-Bristol; 21.05 Yeovil Junction-Salisbury; 21.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth; 21.15 Bristol-Salisbury; 23.15 Totton-Romsey; in addition, passengers on the 18.03 Waterloo-Yeovil Junction thrown off at Salisbury, and passengers on the 22.00 Romsey-Totton thrown off at Redbridge. 22.11 Waterloo-Reading axed.

18/10/04 12.57 Brighton-Reading 60 minutes late; due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 13.33 Waterloo-Gillingham 32 minutes late. 14.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 15.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops before Twickenham for operational convenience. 15.42 Waterloo-Woking axed due to duff stock. 16.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 16.45 Woking-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 16.45 Waterloo-Poole reduced to 8 coaches due to duff stock. 17.33 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.08 Alton-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.26 Waterloo-Guildford axed. 18.57 Brighton-Reading axed between Basingstoke and Reading. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 15 minutes late due to no crew. 20.42 Waterloo-Basingstoke axed due to no driver. 20.54 Reading-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 21.24 Reading-Portsmouth axed between Reading and Basingstoke due to duff stock.

19/10/04 All main line arrivals at Waterloo between 08.00 and 08.30 around 10 minutes late. 14.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 14.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 15 minutes late. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo axed between Plymouth and Salisbury. 17.21 Weybridge-Waterloo axed between Weybridge and Ashford due to duff stock. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter 43 minutes late. 18.36 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 18.47 Waterloo-Staines axed due to duff stock. 19.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to no crew. 19.35 Waterloo-Honiton 14 minutes late. 19.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 20.15 Yeovil-Waterloo and 20.35 Waterloo-Exeter omitted all stops between Basingstoke and Salisbury; 20.35 ran 26 minutes late. 21.49 Kingston-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 22.15 Bristol-Salisbury axed.

20/10/04 05.09 Yeovil-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 05.10 Exeter-Waterloo axed between Exeter and Honiton. 05.34 Bournemouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 05.57 Weymouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 06.20 Honiton-Waterloo reduced to 3 coaches. 06.23 Reading-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 06.25 Weybridge-Waterloo axed between Weybridge and Virginia Water. 06.27 Guildford-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 06.42 Waterloo-Guildford 16 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Surbiton. 07.17 Basingstoke-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 07.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo omitted all stops before Norbiton for operational convenience. 07.20 Wareham-Waterloo 17 minutes late due to duff stock. 07.30 Woking-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 07.42 Gillingham-Waterloo reduced to 3 coaches. Passengers on the 07.43 Waterloo-Portsmouth thrown off at Guildford due to duff stock. 07.53 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 07.56 Alton-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 08.00 Exeter / 08.46 Bristol-Waterloo 14 minutes late. Passengers on the 08.05 Portsmouth-Reading thrown off at Basingstoke due to duff stock. Passengers on the 08.13 Effingham Junction-Waterloo thrown off at Bookham due to duff stock. 08.17 Brighton-Basingstoke 15 minutes late. 08.25 Guildford-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 08.29 Teddington-Waterloo 10 minutes late and axed between Teddington and Raynes Park due to rolling stock shortage. 08.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 32 minutes late. 08.45 Waterloo-Southampton axed due to no driver; 08.55 Waterloo-Poole therefore made extra stops and was 15 minutes late, with passengers then thrown off at Southampton. 09.01 Haslemere-Waterloo axed between Haslemere and Guildford. 09.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 09.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 09.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 23 minutes late. Passengers on the 09.27 Guildford-Ascot thrown off at Aldershot due to duff stock. Passengers on the 09.48 Waterloo-Alton thrown off at Farnham due to duff stock. 10.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke due to duff stock. 10.30 Alton-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 10.53 Ascot-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 11.00 Waterloo-Poole 15 minutes late. 11.57 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 12.33 Waterloo-Exeter 16 minutes late. 14.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 15.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops after Kingston. 15.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 31 minutes late due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Haslemere. 15.48 Poole-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 16.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 16.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 16.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 17.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed. `17.18 Waterloo-Dorking 16 minutes late. 17.26 Waterloo-Guildford axed between Effingham Junction and Guildford. 17.34 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole reduced to 5 coaches. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 18.19 Dorking-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.47 Guildford-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.53 Waterloo-Chessington 15 minutes late. 19.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 19.09 Waterloo-Guildford 15 minutes late. 19.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.25 Guildford-Ascot axed between Guildford and Aldershot. 19.33 Chessington-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 20.39 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to no crew. 21.47 Guildford-Wimbledon axed at 19.39 due to crew being delayed!

21/10/04 Big delays to mainline services into Waterloo in the morning peak, for example 05.42 Poole-Waterloo 18 minutes late; no explanation whatever. 16.21 Guildford-Waterloo 18 minutes late. Reduced to 4 coaches: 16.48 Waterloo-Dorking; 17.37 Waterloo-Epsom; 17.52 Waterloo-Reading; 18.39 Waterloo-Woking. Duff stock on the 15.48 Poole-Waterloo; passengers thrown off at Southampton. 16.56 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. Just before departure time, passengers in the front 5 coaches of the crowded 18.05 Waterloo-Poole thrown off due to duff stock; those not wanting to endure the dreadful overcrowding advised to get the 18.30 to Weymouth; 18.05 then ran 19 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth reduced to 8 coaches of old slam door stock, due to duff stock; train ran in darkness from Woking to Southampton, where passengers thrown off and made to join another train; they were 33 minutes late by Bournemouth. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 6 coaches. 19.20 Waterloo-Portsmouth 35 minutes late due to duff stock. 19.57 Guildford-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 20.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 20.32 Portsmouth-Southampton axed due to no stock. 20.46 Windsor-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.49 Kingston-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 20.57 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 21.06 Woking-Staines axed due to no driver.

22/10/04 Morning peak services from the Southampton line to Waterloo generally around 5-10 minutes late. Staines passengers fed up that the lightly loaded 07.25 Weybridge-Waterloo stopping service comprised 8 coaches, whilst the faster 07.12 Reading-Waterloo - which overtakes it en route - had only 4 carriages and people couldn't get on board. 14.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 15.28 Bristol-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 16.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 16.12 Reading-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 16.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 16.33 Weybridge-Waterloo 20 minutes late. Reduced to 4 coaches: 16.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo; 17.12 Waterloo-Guildford; 17.33 Waterloo-Shepperton; 17.34 Waterloo-Portsmouth; 17.52 Waterloo-Chessington; 18.34 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo. 16.47 Guildford-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.24 Totton-Romsey axed due to duff stock. 17.40 Exeter-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole axed due to duff stock. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 6 coaches and severely overcrowded. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 18.50 Waterloo-Poole 10 minutes late. 19.35 Waterloo-Honiton 20 minutes late. 19.57 Guildford-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 20.17 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 35 minutes late. 20.35 Waterloo-Exeter 23 minutes late. 20.53 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham due to no driver. 20.57 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 21.55 Waterloo-Poole 18 minutes late due to duff stock.

23/10/04 07.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 10.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 10.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 25 minutes late. 11.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 12.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed between Waterloo and Woking. 14.40 Haslemere-Waterloo 11 minutes late. Rear unit of 16.10 Paignton-Basingstoke/Southampton duff; train was 37 minutes late by Salisbury. Passengers on the 18.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo thrown off at Fratton due to duff stock. 18.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 18.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo ran only between Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth & Southsea stations due to duff stock. 18.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 35 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 19.05 Reading-Brighton 33 minutes late due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Havant. 19.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late. 20.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 20.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 20.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 21.40 Brighton-Salisbury axed due to duff stock. 22.30 Weybridge-Staines axed.

24/10/04 Lymington-Brockenhurst trains replaced by buses until 13.00 due to no drivers. 08.09 Waterloo-Basingstoke 25 minutes late. 08.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 09.28 Waterloo-Hampton Court axed. 09.45 Portsmouth-Waterloo 45 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 11.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 11.55 Bournemouth-Basingstoke 25 minutes late. 13.10 Brighton-Reading axed between Brighton and Worthing. 13.40 Weymouth-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 15.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.30 Waterloo-Weymouth axed due to no driver. 18.02 Windsor-Waterloo 13 minutes late. Passengers on the 19.08 Salisbury-Brighton and 19.53 Romsey-Totton thrown off at Southampton due to no guard. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 24 minutes late. 20.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 21.05 and 23.15 Totton-Romsey axed due to no guard. 21.55 Bournemouth-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 22.00 Romsey-Totton axed due to no guard. 22.10 Brighton-Salisbury axed due to no guard. 22.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 23.09 Waterloo-Woking axed due to no driver.

25/10/04 06.19 Poole-Waterloo 30 minutes late. 15.08 Paignton-Waterloo delayed 25 minutes at Honiton due to no crew. 15.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 16.37 Waterloo-Ascot reduced to 4 coaches. Suburban Desiro units on the 16.45 Waterloo-Poole suffered duff information system which showed the train first as a Southampton-Portsmouth Harbour stopping service, and then as a Waterloo-Southampton Central semi-fast complete with a Farnborough stop which does not apply to the 16.45. 16.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 17.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.47 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.58 Waterloo-Basingstoke reduced to 8 coaches. 18.05 Poole-Waterloo reduced to 5 coaches. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 18.34 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 19.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking and 20 minutes late. 19.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 19.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 20.24 Reading-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late.

26/10/04 05.42 Poole-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 14.33 Waterloo-Plymouth 38 minutes late. 14.48 Poole-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 40 minutes late due to duff train. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.15 Waterloo-Weymouth seriously overcrowded. 18.17 Waterloo-Shepperton axed due to duff stock. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 6 coaches. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo axed between Poole and Bournemouth. 18.57 Brighton-Reading axed between Basingstoke and Reading due to duff train. 19.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 19.03 Waterloo-Shepperton 21 minutes late due to duff stock. 19.09 Waterloo-Guildford 17 minutes late due to duff train. 19.12 Waterloo-Woking 15 minutes late due to duff train. 19.35 Waterloo-Honiton reduced to 3 coaches. 20.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 20.26 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no driver. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 21.24 Reading-Portsmouth axed between Reading and Basingstoke due to duff train. 21.54 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no driver.

27/10/04 05.42 Poole-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 06.17 Waterloo-Weybridge axed due to no guard. 06.27 Guildford-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. Passengers on the 06.37 Basingstoke-Waterloo thrown off at Woking due to duff stock. 06.56 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no driver. 07.04 Basingstoke-Waterloo, 07.25 Alton-Waterloo and 07.30 Woking-Waterloo all reduced to 8 coaches. Passengers on the 07.07 Weymouth-Eastleigh thrown off at Bournemouth due to no driver; voluntary worker couldn't get from Totton to Eastleigh in time to start his work. 07.14 Southampton-Portsmouth axed due to no driver. 07.55 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 08.24 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 08.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed between Portsmouth and Basingstoke due to no driver. 15.00 Waterloo-Poole 18 minutes late due to duff Virgin train in the Winchester area. 15.28 Bristol-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 15.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 41 minutes late due to no stock. 15.48 Poole-Waterloo 35 minutes late. 16.00 Waterloo-Poole 27 minutes late. 16.10 Exeter-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 62 minutes late due to no stock. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 17.03 Weybridge-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo 36 minutes late due to duff train. 17.12 Reading-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 17.13 Basingstoke-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.15 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.17 Guildford-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 31 minutes late. 17.26 Windsor-Waterloo 33 minutes late; all stops after Twickenham omitted for operational convenience. 17.28 and 17.34 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 4 coaches. 17.33 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.35 Alton-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.40 Exeter-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.42 Poole-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 21 minutes late due to no stock; passengers forced to change at Southampton for intermediate stations to Bournemouth. 17.48 Waterloo-Alton reduced to 8 coaches. 17.54 Waterloo-Haslemere axed due to duff stock. 17.56 Windsor-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole 23 minutes late. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.11 Twickenham-Waterloo axed. 18.21 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 30 minutes late due to no stock. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter 16 minutes late. 18.36 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.39 Reading-Brighton 16 minutes late. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 18.47 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 18.50 Waterloo-Poole 31 minutes late. 18.51 Basingstoke-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 18.51 Weybridge-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.56 Waterloo-Hampton Court 17 minutes late. 19.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 19.03 Waterloo-Alton 19 minutes late. 19.15 Haslemere-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 19.17 Guildford-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.20 Waterloo-Portsmouth 16 minutes late. 19.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 19.24 Reading-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 32 minutes late. 19.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.40 Waterloo-Portsmouth 12 minutes late. 19.47 Waterloo-Weybridge axed due to no driver. 19.50 Waterloo-Poole axed due to no driver. 20.03 Winchester-Portsmouth 34 minutes late. 20.07 Weymouth-Waterloo 28 minutes late. 20.26 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no driver. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 21.06 Woking-Staines axed due to no driver. 21.30 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 21.54 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no driver.

28/10/04 11.33 Waterloo-Exeter 20 minutes late.16.37 Waterloo-Basingstoke reduced to 4 coaches. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 16.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 17.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 17.42 Poole-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 17.45 waterloo-Weymouth 20 minutes late. 17.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.54 Reading-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 17.56 Waterloo-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 18.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.15 Woking-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 23 minutes late. 18.33 Chessington-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.42 Waterloo-Basingstoke axed due to duff stock. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.51 Basingstoke-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.54 Guildford-Ascot axed due to no guard. 19.12 Waterloo-Windsor reduced to 4 coaches. 19.17 Guildford-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.50 Waterloo-Poole 23 minutes late. 19.53 Ascot-Aldershot axed due to no guard. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 20.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 29 minutes late; all intermediate stops except Farnborough and Woking axed for operational convenience. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 12 minutes late. 20.32 Portsmouth-Southampton 10 minutes late. 20.47 Southampton-Portsmouth diverted via Eastleigh due to broken down train. 20.50 Waterloo-Poole 27 minutes late. 22.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 4 coaches. SWT services withdrawn West of Exeter due to sea damage at Dawlish.

29/10/04 05.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 06.10 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 06.19 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 07.04 Basingstoke-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 07.10 Haslemere-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 13.48 Poole-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 14.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 14.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 14.52 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 30 minutes late from Southampton due to duff stock. 16.42 Reading-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 17.15 Waterloo-Weymouth 11 minutes late. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.28 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 4 coaches due to duff stock. 17.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.50 Portsmouth-Waterloo 25 minutes late. 17.58 Waterloo-Basingstoke reduced to 8 coaches due to duff stock. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 18.40 Waterloo-Havant reduced to 8 coaches due to duff stock. 18.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo axed between Bournemouth and Waterloo due to no driver. 19.19 Dorking-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.26 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no driver. 19.42 Waterloo-Woking axed due to no driver. 20.07 Weymouth-Waterloo axed between Southampton and Waterloo due to no driver. 20.09 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to no driver. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 20.47 Waterloo-Weybridge axed due to no driver. 20.54 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 21.17 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 22.30 Weybridge-Staines axed due to no driver. 22.30 Waterloo-Bournemouth axed due to no driver. 22.33 Waterloo-Shepperton axed due to no driver. SWT services withdrawn West of Exeter due to sea damage at Dawlish.

30/10/04 Passengers on the 10.48 Weymouth-Waterloo thrown off at Bournemouth due to no driver. 11.55 Windsor-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 12.10 Waterloo-Basingstoke 38 minutes late due to no crew; ran fast to Farnborough for operational convenience. 13.22 Waterloo-Reading axed. 14.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 14.50 Wareham-Southampton axed due to no driver. 15.12 Reading-Waterloo axed. 15.30 Waterloo-Weymouth axed between Waterloo and Bournemouth due to no driver. Passengers on the 15.48 Weymouth-Waterloo thrown off at Bournemouth due to no driver. 16.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.23 Basingstoke-Brighton 39 minutes late. 17.24 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 17.45 Woking-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 17.55 Portsmouth-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 18.07 Waterloo-Weybridge axed due to no driver. 18.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo axed. 18.42 Waterloo-Woking 22 minutes late; intermediate stops before Surbiton axed for operational convenience. 18.45 Woking-Waterloo axed. Passengers on the 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo thrown off at Southampton. 19.03 Waterloo-Shepperton axed due to no driver. 19.03 Waterloo-Bristol 15 minutes late. 19.23 Ascot-Guildford axed between Ascot and Aldershot due to duff stock. 19.30 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 33 minutes late. 19.33 Waterloo-Honiton 25 minutes late. 20.07 Shepperton-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 20.10 Brighton-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth axed between Waterloo and Bournemouth due to no driver. 20.33 Waterloo-Shepperton Axed due to no driver. 20.42 Waterloo-Windsor axed due to no driver. 20.49 Kingston-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 21.30 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 21.37 Shepperton-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 21.42 waterloo-Windsor axed due to no driver. 21.43 Windsor-Waterloo axed due to no driver. Passengers on the 22.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo thrown off at Woking due to no guard. 22.19 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 22.45 Windsor-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 23.02 Waterloo-Kingston axed due to no driver. 23.15 Waterloo-Basingstoke axed between Waterloo and Woking. SWT services withdrawn West of Exeter due to sea damage at Dawlish.

31/10/04 SWT services very curtailed due to Sunday engineering works. Most services west of Exeter cancelled due to derailment in Salisbury depot. 11.30 Exeter-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 13.03 Waterloo-Paignton 30 minutes late. 15.25 Paignton-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 16.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 65 minutes late due to the cancellation of a previous train. 17.40 Aldershot-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 17.25 Yeovil-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 18.47 Guildford-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 18.52 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 31 minutes late. 21.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed.

1/11/04 Reduced to 4 coaches: 18.24 Waterloo-Weybridge; 18.55 Waterloo-Guildford; 16.07 Waterloo-Ascot; 16.18 Waterloo-Alton; 18.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo. Reduced to 5 coaches due to duff stock: 15.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo; 17.51 Waterloo-Portsmouth. Reduced to 8 coaches: 17.23 Waterloo-Basingstoke; 18.00 Waterloo-Guildford. 06.06 Brockenhurst-Winchester axed. 06.19 Poole-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 14.30 Waterloo-Weymouth axed between Waterloo and Bournemouth. 15.08 Paignton-Waterloo axed between Paignton and Salisbury due to duff stock. 15.22 Waterloo-Chessington 17 minutes late due to no crew. 15.51 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. Delayed 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth arrived at Southampton Central at 17.48; connection with the 17.47 stopping train to Portsmouth not held, causing an hour's delay for some passengers. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 16.56 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole 10 minutes late. 18.15 Salisbury-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 16 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo axed between Reading and Ascot due to duff stock. 19.55 Plymouth-Salisbury axed between Plymouth and Exeter. 20.20 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to no driver.

2/11/04 06.49 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed. 07.17 Basingstoke-Waterloo axed. 14.33 Waterloo-Plymouth 55 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Newton Abbot for operational convenience. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 15.45 Waterloo-Southampton axed. 16.07 Waterloo-Ascot reduced to 4 coaches. 16.12 Waterloo-Southampton reduced to 4 coaches. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 17 minutes late. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo reduced to 5 coaches. 17.22 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.33 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.38 Basingstoke-Waterloo axed. 17.54 Reading-Waterloo 15 minutes late; intermediate stops between Staines and Waterloo omitted for operational convenience. 18.24 Waterloo-Weybridge reduced to 4 coaches. 18.40 Waterloo-Havant reduced to 8 coaches. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 19.05 Waterloo-Bristol 22 minutes late due to duff stock. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth reduced to 5 coaches. 19.33 Waterloo-Shepperton axed due to no driver. 19.33 Paignton-Basingstoke axed between Paignton and Newton Abbot. 19.55 Plymouth-Salisbury axed between Plymouth and Exeter and reduced to 3 coaches. 20.37 Shepperton-Waterloo axed due to no driver.

3/11/04 06.38 Farnham-Waterloo 16 minutes late; intermediate stops after Woking omitted for operational convenience. 07.12 Waterloo-Windsor 20 minutes late due to duff stock; intermediate stops before Staines omitted for operational convenience. 07.12 and 07.37 Portsmouth-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 08.01 Teddington-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 09.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. Train failure: 10.52 Waterloo-Reading 15 minutes late; 10.54 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo 19 minutes late and fast from Twickenham to Barnes; 11.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 16 minutes late and fast from Kingston to Waterloo; 11.48 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo fast to Norbiton. 11.55 Windsor-Waterloo axed between Windsor and Staines. 13.48 Poole-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 15.27 Windsor-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 15.28 Bristol-Waterloo 20 minutes late. Big disruption on Portsmouth line due to duff train: 14.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 48 minutes late and passengers thrown off at Woking; 14.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 29 minutes late; 15.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo diverted via Eastleigh; 16.26 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. Reduced to 4 coaches: 16.08 and 16.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth; 16.17 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo; 17.47 Waterloo-Shepperton; 17.52 Waterloo-Reading. 16.12 Waterloo-Southampton 14 minutes late. 16.50 Waterloo-Portsmouth 18 minutes late. 16.52 Waterloo-Reading 18 minutes late due to duff stock. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 27 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Guildford axed. 17.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.11 Twickenham-Waterloo axed. 18.24 Reading-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 20.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late.

4/11/04 13.45 Waterloo-Southampton 46 minutes late. 14.00 Waterloo-Poole 17 minutes late. 14.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Haslemere axed for operational convenience. 14.33 Waterloo-Plymouth 31 minutes late due to no crew. 14.36 Portsmouth-Southampton 22 minutes late. 14.40 Haslemere-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 14.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 14.55 Southampton-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 15.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Basingstoke. 16.26 Waterloo-Portsmouth 18 minutes late. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 15 minutes late; this was shown on SWT's website as due to delay on a previous journey, but actually the train wasted all the time at Southampton Central. 17.47 Southampton-Portsmouth provided with an inspector and 3 police / travelsafe officers; 17.55 to Brockenhurst could not manage even a crew until 18.03. 18.10 Waterloo-Yeovil reduced to 5 coaches. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 29 minutes late. 18.21 Waterloo-Basingstoke reduced to 4 coaches; Surbiton stop omitted to in view of severe overcrowding. 18.34 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 18.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.54 Salisbury-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.57 Brighton-Reading axed due to duff stock. 19.55 Plymouth-Salisbury axed between Totnes and Plymouth due to an earlier train failure. 20.10 Waterloo-Southampton 12 minutes late. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.40 Waterloo-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 21.24 Reading-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock.

5/11/04 13.32 Plymouth-Waterloo 35 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Salisbury. 14.17 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 15.22 Waterloo-Reading axed. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 34 minutes late; Clapham Junction stop axed for operational convenience. 16.10 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 4 coaches. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 11 minutes late. 16.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 5 coaches. 17.12 Reading-Waterloo axed. 17.40 Exeter-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.08 Waterloo-Haslemere reduced to 5 coaches. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 6 coaches. 18.39 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 18.52 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 19.16 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Norbiton axed. 19.19 Dorking-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.53 Ascot-Aldershot axed due to duff stock. 20.32 Portsmouth-Southampton axed due to duff stock. 20.54 Portsmouth-Winchester axed between Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth & Southsea. 21.15 Southampton-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 21.26 Waterloo-Reading 29 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Ascot, except Wokingham, axed for operational convenience.

6/11/04 05.50 Salisbury-Exeter 24 minutes late. 07.03 Guildford-Waterloo axed. 07.05 Exeter-Waterloo delayed at Salisbury 20 minutes due to duff stock. 17.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 18.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth omitted all stops before Haslemere for operational convenience. 19.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth 18 minutes late. 19.12 Reading-Waterloo axed between Ascot and Reading due to duff stock. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 30 minutes late. 20.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to no conductor. 20.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 34 minutes late. 21.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 20 minutes late. 21.48 Waterloo-Alton axed due to no driver; then reinstated, but departed 10 minutes late and passengers to be thrown off at Farnham. 22.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to no guard.

7/11/04 07.11 Waterloo-Reading 18 minutes late. 08.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 28 minutes late; all intermediate stops between Kingston and Waterloo omitted for operational convenience. 12.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 15.10 Hounslow-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.57 Reading-Waterloo 25 minutes late. 20.50 Waterloo-Winchester axed due to no driver. 22.02 Windsor-Waterloo axed. 22.11 Waterloo-Reading axed. 22.15 Winchester-Waterloo axed due to no driver.

8/11/04 06.34 Southampton-Romsey via Eastleigh diverted to run via Redbridge, and 06.48 Southampton-Eastleigh axed; the 05.42 Poole-Waterloo called at St Denys to compensate but too much trouble to stop it at Swaythling; furious Swaythling commuter overheard complaining on the 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth that he had run all the way from Swaythling to Southampton Parkway to catch the 06.19 Poole-London. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 16.03 Waterloo-Shepperton reduced to 4 coaches. 16.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 16.18 Waterloo-Dorking reduced to 4 coaches. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.21 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 18.37 Waterloo-Alton reduced to 8 coaches. 18.39 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 19.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 5 coaches. 19.05 Waterloo-Bristol 15 minutes late. 20.15 Woking-Waterloo 15 minutes late.

9/11/04 06.19 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 16.22 Waterloo-Chessington axed. 16.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 17.22 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 17.38 Basingstoke-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.40 Exeter-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.42 Poole-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 17.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 33 minutes late. 18.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole 13 minutes late. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 21 minutes late. 18.32 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to no driver. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.50 Waterloo-Poole 15 minutes late. 18.54 Salisbury-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 19.05 Waterloo-Bristol 14 minutes late. 19.15 Woking-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 19.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 19.21 Weybridge-Waterloo 32 minutes late. 19.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 19.50 Waterloo-Poole 51 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 20.15 Woking-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 20.17 Guildford-Waterloo 27 minutes late; intermediate stops after Surbiton axed for operational convenience. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 31 minutes late. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 45 minutes late. 20.42 Waterloo-Basingstoke 25 minutes late. 20.45 Woking-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 20.47 Guildford-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 20.50 Waterloo-Poole 21 minutes late. 21.10 Waterloo-Southampton 13 minutes late. 21.15 Woking-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 21.24 Alton-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 21.26 Waterloo-Reading 21 minutes late due to no stock. 21.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 57 minutes late. 21.45 Woking-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 21.55 Waterloo-Poole axed. 22.24 Alton-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 22.42 Waterloo-Windsor axed. 22.50 Poole-Eastleigh 18 minutes late.

10/11/04 05.57 Weymouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 06.30 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 07.28 Havant-Waterloo axed between Havant and Haslemere due to duff stock. 07.43 Effingham Junction-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 07.47 Waterloo-Weybridge 17 minutes late. 07.50 Aldershot-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 07.50 Guildford-Ascot axed due to duff stock. 07.53 Epsom-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 08.01 Teddington-Waterloo axed between Teddington and Earlsfield. 08.43 Windsor-Waterloo axed. 08.49 Effingham Junction-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 08.55 Ascot-Guildford axed between Ascot and Aldershot due to duff stock. 08.56 Waterloo-Hampton Court axed. 09.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed. 11.48 Waterloo-Alton and 13.30 Alton-Waterloo axed between Farnham and Alton due to priority being given to a slow moving freight train. 13.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 57 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Southampton Central axed for administrative convenience. 14.00 Waterloo-Poole 47 minutes late. 14.45 Waterloo-Southampton 16 minutes late. 14.48 Poole-Waterloo 45 minutes late. 14.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 15.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 12 minutes late. 16.42 and 17.42 Poole-Waterloo axed between Poole and Bournemouth. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.15 Waterloo-Weymouth 16 minutes late. 17.38 Basingstoke-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 13 minutes late. 17.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole 15 minutes late. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.54 Portsmouth-Winchester 26 minutes late due to duff stock. 19.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 12 minutes late.

11/11/04 17.25 Waterloo-Portsmouth 16 minutes late. 17.37 Waterloo-Aldershot 12 minutes late due to duff stock. Duff train in the Richmond area. 17.47 Waterloo-Shepperton 22 minutes late. 17.52 Waterloo-Reading 24 minutes late. 18.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 18.07 Waterloo-Reading 16 minutes late. 18.12 Waterloo-Windsor omitted all scheduled intermediate stops. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.05 Waterloo-Bristol reduced to 3 coaches. 19.24 Reading-Waterloo 24 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Ascot, except Staines, omitted for operational convenience. 19.35 Waterloo-Honiton reduced to 4 coaches. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 20.53 Alton-Waterloo axed.

12/11/04 14.52 Waterloo-Reading axed. 15.08 Paignton-Waterloo axed between Paignton and Exeter due to no driver. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.51 Waterloo-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 18.00 Waterloo-Guildford reduced to 8 coaches. 18.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 19.24 Reading-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 14 minutes late. 19.49 Waterloo-Guildford 15 minutes late. 20.19 Yeovil-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 21.57 Guildford-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 22.24 Reading-Waterloo axed.

13/11/04 07.07 Salisbury-Brighton axed between Salisbury and Southampton. 07.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 07.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 07.40 Exeter-Waterloo 16 minutes late due to duff stock. 08.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late. 08.33 Waterloo-Plymouth 25 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Exeter. 08.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 09.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 26 minutes late. 09.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 18 minutes late. 09.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 10.25 Southampton-Portsmouth 25 minutes late. 10.36 Portsmouth-Southampton 11 minutes late. 10.40 Portsmouth-Southampton 13 minutes late. 10.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 10.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 10.54 Portsmouth-Southampton 19 minutes late. Passengers on the 11.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo thrown off at Woking. 11.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 46 minutes late. 11.33 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 11.39 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 11.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 38 minutes late. 12.05 Paignton-Brighton 26 minutes late. 12.10 Waterloo-Basingstoke axed due to duff stock. 12.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed. 12.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed. Woking and Guildford stops of the 12.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed; train 25 minutes late. Passengers on the 12.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo thrown off at Woking. 12.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth 40 minutes late. 13.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 13.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 53 minutes late. 13.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 60 minutes late. 13.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 14 minutes late. 13.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 14.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking and ran 77 minutes late. 14.21 Exeter-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 14.22 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no guard. 14.35 Southampton-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 14.36 Portsmouth-Southampton 56 minutes late. 14.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 14.47 Southampton-Portsmouth 13 minutes late. 15.47 Southampton-Portsmouth 39 minutes late. 15.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late. 15.40 Haslemere-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 16.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth 35 minutes late. 16.12 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 16.22 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no guard. 16.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed due to no driver. 16.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 18 minutes late. 16.56 Windsor-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.23 Basingstoke-Brighton 37 minutes late due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Worthing. Decision broadcast around 11.30 that 17.40 Haslemere-Waterloo axed due to delay to previous train. 17.55 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.57 Brighton-Salisbury 21 minutes late. 18.42 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 18.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.45 Waterloo-Southampton axed. 18.47 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo axed. 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 57 minutes late due to no crew. 19.15 Waterloo-Dorking axed. 19.42 Waterloo-Windsor axed. 20.10 Brighton-Portsmouth axed between Brighton and Worthing. 20.26 Waterloo-Reading axed. 20.43 Windsor-Waterloo axed. 20.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 24 minutes late. 20.47 Waterloo-Weybridge axed. 20.49 Dorking-Waterloo axed. 21.02 Weymouth-Southampton 35 minutes late. 21.33 Waterloo-Gillingham 44 minutes late. 21.54 Reading-Waterloo axed. 22.02 Waterloo-Kingston axed. 22.30 Weybridge-Staines axed. 22.49 Kingston-Waterloo axed.

14/11/04 07.32 Yeovil-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 08.20 Alton-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 08.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to no crew. 08.47 Waterloo-Windsor 19 minutes late due to no crew. 09.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking due to duff stock. 09.15 Winchester-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 12.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 65 minutes late. 13.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 38 minutes late. 13.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 46 minutes late due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Woking. 14.16 Par-Waterloo 63 minutes late due to duff stock. 14.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 14.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 22 minutes late. 15.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 39 minutes late due to duff stock; passengers thrown off at Woking. 15.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 29 minutes late. 15.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 28 minutes late. 15.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 16.33 Chessington-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 16.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 16.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 16.52 Guildford-Waterloo axed. 16.57 Reading-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 17.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 17.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 17.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 13 minutes late. 17.45 Waterloo-Portsmouth 22 minutes late. 19.40 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late.

15/11/04 05.10 Exeter-Waterloo reduced to 6 coaches and 11 minutes late. 05.20 Guildford-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 05.35 Waterloo-Weymouth 34 minutes late. Passengers on the 05.41 Portsmouth-Waterloo thrown off at Fratton due to duff stock. 05.57 Weymouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 05.58 Bournemouth-Weymouth axed. 06.03 Portsmouth-Waterloo 40 minutes late. 06.10 Portsmouth-Waterloo 28 minutes late. 06.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 06.17 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 06.20 Honiton-Waterloo reduced to 6 coaches. 06.35 Basingstoke-Reading axed due to no crew. 06.38 Portsmouth-Waterloo 40 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 06.42 Hilsea-Waterloo omitted all stops between Haslemere and Guildford for operational convenience. 06.49 Portsmouth-Waterloo 36 minutes late due to duff stock. 06.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 07.07 Weymouth-Eastleigh axed between Weymouth and Bournemouth and between Southampton and Eastleigh, and 24 minutes late. 07.09 Winchester-Southampton 37 minutes late. 07.10 Haslemere-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 07.12 Portsmouth-Waterloo 39 minutes late. 07.21 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 07.23 Poole-Brockenhurst axed between Bournemouth and Brockenhurst. 07.25 Waterloo-Dorking axed due to duff stock. 07.28 Eastleigh-Waterloo 37 minutes late due to a train failure. 07.30 Woking-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 07.38 Weymouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 07.40 Southampton-Waterloo 18 minutes late; Surbiton stop axed. 07.59 Southampton-Portsmouth 30 minutes late. 08.06 Brockenhurst-Poole axed between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth. 08.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 31 minutes late. 08.29 Teddington-Waterloo axed between Teddington and Earlsfield. 08.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 08.40 Woking-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 08.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 08.55 Waterloo-Poole 11 minutes late. 09.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 09.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 09.22 Basingstoke-Brighton 46 minutes late due to no crew; passengers thrown off at Worthing. 09.23 Waterloo-Haslemere 15 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Guildford. 09.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 17 minutes late. 09.48 Waterloo-Alton 25 minutes late due to no rolling stock. 09.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 28 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 09.56 Waterloo-Hampton Court omitted all intermediate stops before Surbiton. 10.00 Waterloo-Poole 17 minutes late. 10.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 10.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 13 minutes late. 10.30 Alton-Waterloo 20 minutes late and axed between Alton and Farnham due to duff stock. 10.36 Portsmouth-Southampton 10 minutes late. 10.40 Haslemere-Waterloo axed between Haslemere and Guildford. 11.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed between Waterloo and Woking. 11.30 Alton-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 11.57 Brighton-Basingstoke axed between Brighton and Worthing. 12.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Basingstoke. 12.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed between Waterloo and Woking. 14.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 10 minutes late. 16.03 Waterloo-Salisbury reduced to 3 coaches. 16.09 Waterloo-Guildford 16 minutes late and reduced to 4 coaches. 16.33 Chessington-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 16.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 16.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to no rolling stock. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 16.56 Waterloo-Hampton Court reduced to 4 coaches. 17.15 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 20 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Norbiton axed. 17.17 Guildford-Waterloo ran non-stop from Surbiton. 17.17 Waterloo-Shepperton reduced to 4 coaches. 17.28 Waterloo-Portsmouth 20 minutes late from Basingstoke awaiting a crew. 17.37 Waterloo-Epsom reduced to 4 coaches. 17.54 Waterloo-Haslemere reduced to 5 coaches. 18.03 Waterloo-Shepperton reduced to 4 coaches. 18.22 Waterloo-Chessington reduced to 4 coaches. 18.37 Waterloo-Reading 16 minutes late. 18.42 Poole-Waterloo 17 minutes late. Passengers on the 18.48 Weymouth-Waterloo thrown off at Bournemouth due to no driver. 19.00 Waterloo-Guildford axed. 19.21 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 20.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to no rolling stock. 21.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 22.30 Waterloo-Bournemouth axed due to no driver.

16/11/04 05.41 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to no crew. 05.53 Twickenham-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 06.03 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 06.38 Farnham-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 06.42 Waterloo-Guildford 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Woking axed for operational convenience. 07.04 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 07.12 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. Passengers on the 07.36 Shepperton-Waterloo thrown off at Norbiton due to duff stock. 07.43 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Guildford. 07.58 Waterloo-Alton axed between waterloo and Farnham due to duff stock. 08.00 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 09.00 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to no guard. 09.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 15 minutes late. 10.05 Reading-Brighton 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 10.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to duff stock. Passengers on the 11.09 Waterloo-Guildford thrown off at Surbiton. 11.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 12.17 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 12.30 Waterloo-Weymouth expected 26 minutes late at Southampton. 14.33 Waterloo-Plymouth 36 minutes late. 15.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Haslemere axed for operational convenience. 15.36 Portsmouth-Southampton 18 minutes late. 15.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 16.01 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 16.05 Reading-Brighton 25 minutes late. 16.12 Waterloo-Southampton reduced to 5 coaches. Reduced to 4 coaches: 16.15 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo; 16.18 / 17.18 Waterloo-Dorking; 16.30 / 18.37 Waterloo-Epsom; 16.33 / 18.03 Waterloo-Shepperton; 17.43 Waterloo-Windsor; 18.09 Waterloo-Woking. 16.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 16.52 Waterloo-Reading axed due to duff stock. 17.38 Basingstoke-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to no rolling stock. 18.21 Waterloo-Basingstoke reduced to 8 coaches. 18.24 Reading-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 19.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 21.11 Windsor-Waterloo 17 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Richmond axed for operational convenience. 21.17 Waterloo-Twickenham axed due to no driver.

17/11/04 04.58 Poole-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 05.09 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late due to duff stock; Clapham Junction stop axed for operational convenience. 05.47 Guildford-Waterloo 41 minutes late. 05.54 Reading-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 06.17 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 06.27 Guildford-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 07.03 Waterloo-Shepperton axed between Waterloo and Kingston. 07.12 Reading-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 07.17 Basingstoke axed due to duff stock. 07.20 Waterloo-Portsmouth 19 minutes late. 07.25 Reading-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 07.39 Waterloo-Guildford 23 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Surbiton axed for operational convenience. 07.50 Aldershot-Waterloo 22 minutes late. At 07.55 the 11.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo was being advertised as axed due to no guard and the 12.17 Guildford-Waterloo as axed due to duff stock; however, the first incident was advertised as notified at 11.30 and the second at 11.27, so the problem may have been SWT's duff Journeycheck facility rather than their duff service. 08.07 Dorking-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 08.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 11 minutes late. 08.37 Dorking-Waterloo axed between Dorking and Epsom. 09.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 09.37 Waterloo-Weybridge 17 minutes late. 10.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 13 minutes late. 10.48 Poole-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 14.33 Waterloo-Plymouth 37 minutes late. 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 17.17 Guildford-Waterloo 13 minutes late. Passengers on the 17.56 Waterloo-Portsmouth thrown off at Woking due to duff stock. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter axed between Waterloo and Salisbury due to duff stock. 18.57 Brighton-Reading 76 minutes late due to broken down train; passengers thrown off at Basingstoke. 19.19 Dorking-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.20 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 19.05 Waterloo-Bristol axed between Salisbury and Bristol due to earlier train failure. 19.25 Guildford-Ascot 30 minutes late due to no crew. 19.58 Guildford-Aldershot axed. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 21.24 Reading-Portsmouth axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 21.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 23 minutes late. 22.15 Bristol-Salisbury axed due to duff train.

18/11/04 05.42 Poole-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 06.26 Portsmouth-Southampton 15 minutes late. 06.38 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late; intermediate stops after Basingstoke axed for operational convenience. 06.50 Alton-Waterloo 17 minutes late; Clapham Junction stop axed for operational convenience. 07.09 Winchester-Southampton axed. 07.11 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke due to duff stock. 07.12 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 07.28 Havant-Waterloo 23 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Haslemere, except Guildford, axed for operational convenience. 07.28 Eastleigh-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 07.41 West Byfleet-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 07.53 Reading-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 08.38 Yeovil-Waterloo axed between Basingstoke and Waterloo. 08.42 Waterloo-Woking 18 minutes late; intermediate stops before Surbiton axed for operational convenience. 08.43 Poole-Waterloo axed between Poole and Bournemouth due to no driver. 08.46 Bristol-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 09.15 Haslemere-Waterloo axed between Haslemere and Guildford. 09.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 23 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Norbiton axed for operational convenience. 09.30 Waterloo-Guildford 15 minutes late. 09.39 Waterloo-Guildford 16 minutes late. 10.37 Shepperton-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 10.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 10.48 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed. 10.56 Waterloo-Hampton Court axed between Waterloo and Surbiton. 11.03 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 11.22 Waterloo-Chessington axed. 11.33 Waterloo-Plymouth axed between Basingstoke and Plymouth. 11.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed. 12.03 Chessington-Waterloo axed. 14.47 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late. 14.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 14.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 29 minutes late. 15.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 15.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 15.28 Bristol-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 15.45 Waterloo-Southampton axed due to duff stock. 15.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 16.00 Waterloo-Epsom delayed due to no crew; omitted all intermediate stops before Epsom. 16.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops before Norbiton. 16.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 16.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 16.56 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 17.04 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.15 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 17.17 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 17.42 Poole-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 17.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 17.49 Dorking-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.18 Waterloo-Alton reduced to 4 coaches. 18.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late due to no stock. 18.22 Waterloo-Chessington 15 minutes late. 18.50 Waterloo-Poole 15 minutes late. 18.51 Basingstoke-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.51 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo 44 minutes late. 19.12 Waterloo-Basingstoke 25 minutes late; all intermediate stops before Woking axed. 19.16 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 19.18 Waterloo-Dorking omitted all intermediate stops before Surbiton. 19.19 Dorking-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 19.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 19.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 21 minutes late. 19.33 Waterloo-Shepperton axed between Raynes Park and Shepperton. 19.33 Chessington-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 19.35 Waterloo-Honiton reduced to 3 coaches. 19.40 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking due to duff stock. 19.42 Waterloo-Woking omitted all intermediate stops before Surbiton. 19.45 Woking-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 19.50 Waterloo-Poole 11 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 19.57 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 20.14 Basingstoke-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 20.16 Windsor-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 20.17 Guildford-Waterloo 41 minutes late. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 21 minutes late. 20.31 Alton-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 20.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 3 coaches. 20.38 Chessington-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 20.44 Basingstoke-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 20.45 Woking-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 20.47 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late. 20.52 Guildford-Waterloo axed. 20.53 Alton-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 20.57 Guildford-Waterloo axed. 21.02 Waterloo-Kingston 20 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Strawberry Hill. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 21.21 Staines-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 21.42 Waterloo-Guildford 15 minutes late. 22.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 10 minutes late.

19/11/04 05.47 Guildford-Waterloo 20 minutes late due to no crew; all stops after Effingham Junction axed for operational convenience. 05.56 Guildford-Waterloo 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Epsom axed for operational convenience. 06.10 Portsmouth-Waterloo and 07.28 Havant-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 06.16 Alton-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 06.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 06.20 Honiton-Waterloo reduced to 3 coaches. 06.25 Weybridge-Waterloo 19 minutes late due to duff stock. 06.42 Hilsea-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops after Haslemere except Guildford. 06.42 Waterloo-Windsor axed due to duff stock. 07.11 and 10.05 Reading-Brighton axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 07.29 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff train blocking line. 07.53 Guildford-Waterloo axed between Guildford and Effingham Junction due to duff train blocking line. 07.25 and 07.56 Alton-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 07.47 Waterloo-Weybridge delayed due to no crew; passengers thrown off at Staines. 08.05 Portsmouth-Reading axed between Basingstoke and Reading. 08.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 08.13 Effingham Junction-Waterloo 17 minutes late; intermediate stops after Epsom axed for operational convenience. 08.17 Guildford-Waterloo 32 minutes late. 08.28 Portsmouth-Waterloo 32 minutes late. 08.30 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 08.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 08.40 Woking-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops except Surbiton. 08.46 Twickenham-Waterloo axed. 08.48 Waterloo-Alton 17 minutes late. 08.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 09.02 Waterloo-Guildford axed. 09.17 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 09.18 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 09.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Southampton Central axed for operational convenience. 10.00 Guildford-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 10.17 Guildford-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops after Surbiton. 10.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 24 minutes late. 10.47 Guildford-Waterloo 36 minutes late. 10.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late. 11.04 Guildford-Waterloo axed. 11.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 19 minutes late; all stops after Haslemere omitted for operational convenience. 11.17 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 12.26 Waterloo-Hampton Court omitted all intermediate stops before Surbiton. 13.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 12 minutes late. 15.15 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed due to duff stock. 15.51 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 16.10 Waterloo-Portsmouth 32 minutes late; Micheldever and Winchester stops omitted for operational convenience. 16.12 Waterloo-Southampton 18 minutes late. 16.47 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo reduced to 4 coaches. 16.52 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 16.54 Waterloo-Weybridge reduced to 4 coaches. 16.56 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 17.58 Waterloo-Basingstoke 10 minutes late. 18.17 Waterloo-Shepperton reduced to 4 coaches. 18.22 Waterloo-Reading reduced to 4 coaches. 18.36 Portsmouth-Southampton 15 minutes late due to no stock. 18.52 Waterloo-Reading 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 19.37 Shepperton-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 19.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo axed. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late.

20/11/04 Damp, cold day marked by a combination of engineering works on the Southampton line and signalling failure on the Portsmouth line: 06.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 08.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 31 minutes late. 08.55 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 09.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 32 minutes late. 09.54 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 10.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 32 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 10.45 Salisbury-Waterloo 15 minutes late due to duff stock. 10.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 10.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 10.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 10.57 Brighton-Southampton 11 minutes late. 11.40 Haslemere-Waterloo axed. 12.23 / 15.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed between Waterloo and Woking. 12.17 / 12.47 / 13.25 / 13.47 / 14.17 / 14.47 / 16.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed. 12.08 / 12.38 / 14.08 / 14.38 / 15.38 / 16.08 / 16.38 / 18.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed. 12.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 12.27 Windsor-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 12.53 Waterloo-Portsmouth 22 minutes late. 13.15 Woking-Waterloo axed. 13.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed due to duff stock. 13.25 Winchester-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 13.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late; passengers thrown off at Woking. 13.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 14.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 37 minutes late. 14.40 Haslemere-Waterloo axed between Haslemere and Guildford. 14.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 15.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 15.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 15.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 15.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 33 minutes late. 16.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 26 minutes late. 16.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 28 minutes late. 17.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late. 17.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 22 minutes late. 17.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 27 minutes late. 18.03 Chessington-Waterloo axed. 18.03 Weybridge-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.07 Shepperton-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 18.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed between Waterloo and Woking. 18.32 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 18 minutes late. 18.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 25 minutes late. 18.54 Waterloo-Brentford-Waterloo, 19.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo and 19.03 Weybridge-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.08 Waterloo-Portsmouth 16 minutes late. 19.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 19.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 19 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 20.25 Winchester-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 20.30 Weybridge-Waterloo axed due to no guard. 20.30 Alton-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 20.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 18 minutes late. 20.45 Waterloo-Weymouth 15 minutes late. 21.08 Chessington-Waterloo omitted all intermediate stops for operational convenience. 21.15 Waterloo-Epsom 15 minutes late. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 21.23 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 21.54 Reading-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 23.37 Waterloo-Kingston 19 minutes late.

21/11/04 Day of major engineering work and grossly inflated running times. 06.50 Poole-Waterloo 22 minutes late. 07.00 Eastleigh-Waterloo 21 minutes late. Waterloo-Weymouth trains allowed 35 minutes from leaving Fareham to leaving Southampton. 10.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 26 minutes late but the 12.30 left Fareham two minutes late at 13.59 and got to Southampton at 14.20, 12 minutes before its departure time. 13.51 Portsmouth-Southampton 21 minutes late; passengers crossing the footbridge at Southampton were just in time to see the hourly connection (15.02) to Bournemouth depart. 14.47 Southampton-Portsmouth 18 minutes late leaving and 21 minutes late by the end of its journey. 15.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 29 minutes late. 16.40 Weymouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 17.51 Basingstoke-Waterloo 23 minutes late.

22/11/04 13.48 Poole-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 14.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 15.18 Waterloo-Alton axed between Waterloo and Woking. 15.51 Guildford-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 16.56 Waterloo-Guildford axed due to duff stock. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 18.24 Waterloo-Guildford 21 minutes late after failure at Claygate. 18.36 Portsmouth-Southampton axed due to duff stock. 20.24 Reading-Waterloo 17 minutes late due to signalling problem. 20.54 Reading-Waterloo 50 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Wokingham axed. 21.24 Reading-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 21.40 Brighton-Salisbury axed between Brighton and Havant due to duff stock.

23/11/04 Mainline arrivals at Waterloo between 08.00 and 08.30 generally 5-15 minutes late. 15.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo, 17.47 Guildford-Waterloo, 18.18 Waterloo-Alton, 18.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo and 18.53 Waterloo-Chessington all reduced to 4 coaches. 17.10 Plymouth-Waterloo 35 minutes late. 17.25 Waterloo-Guildford 22 minutes late. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 17.40 Exeter-Waterloo 54 minutes late. 17.51 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 5 coaches. 18.24 Waterloo-Guildford 15 minutes late. 18.30 Waterloo-Hampton Court axed due to duff stock. 19.02 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.09 Hampton Court-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 19.35 Waterloo-Honiton 30 minutes late. 21.19 Kingston-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 22.20 Waterloo-Portsmouth 17 minutes late due to no crew.

24/11/04 05.34 Bournemouth-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 06.50 Alton-Waterloo 7 minutes late; Clapham Junction stop axed for operational convenience. 07.28 Havant-Waterloo 12 minutes late due to duff stock. 07.32 Basingstoke-Waterloo reduced to 8 coaches. 07.42 Waterloo-Windsor 15 minutes late due to duff stock; all intermediate stops before Staines omitted for operational convenience. 07.54 Woking-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 08.28 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. Passengers on the 09.20 Portsmouth Harbour-Waterloo thrown off at Portsmouth & Southsea due to duff stock. 09.22 Basingstoke-Brighton 24 minutes late due to duff stock. 09.48 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 11.23 Waterloo-Haslemere axed between Waterloo and Woking due to duff stock. 12.18 Waterloo-Alton axed between Farnham and Alton. 13.58 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham. 14.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 12 minutes late. 15.25 Totton-Romsey delayed 11 minutes at Southampton Central. 16.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 17 minutes late. 16.35 Waterloo-Exeter reduced to 3 coaches and 11 minutes late. 16.42 Reading-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 16.56 Windsor-Waterloo 20 minutes late due to duff stock. 17.56 Waterloo-Guildford 17 minutes late. 17.59 Waterloo-Hampton Court 17 minutes late. 18.03 Waterloo-Shepperton 17 minutes late. 18.06 Waterloo-Epsom 16 minutes late. 18.09 Waterloo-Woking 17 minutes late. 18.39 Hampton Court-Waterloo 15 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Surbiton axed for operational convenience. Duff stock on 18.39 Reading-Brighton; passengers thrown off at Havant. 18.48 Epsom-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.49 Dorking-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 19.32 Alton-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 19.45 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 20.33 Waterloo-Alton 15 minutes late. 20.45 Woking-Waterloo axed due to duff stock. 21.12 Waterloo-Basingstoke 13 minutes late. 21.30 Waterloo-Weymouth did not start until 21.39. 21.40 Brighton-Salisbury axed between Brighton and Havant due to duff stock. 23.38 Alton-Woking axed.

25/11/04 14.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 29 minutes late; intermediate stops after Haslemere axed for operational convenience. 14.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth 28 minutes late. 15.28 Bristol-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 15.34 Guildford-Waterloo axed. Passengers on the 15.38 Exeter-Waterloo thrown off at Clapham Junction. 15.38 Waterloo-Portsmouth axed. 16.41 Wareham-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 16.42 Poole-Waterloo 10 minutes late, mainly due to delay at Southampton Central. 16.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 10 minutes late. 16.54 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed. 16.55 Southampton-Waterloo 19 minutes late. 16.57 Portsmouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 16.58 Alton-Waterloo 28 minutes late. 17.12 Reading-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.13 Basingstoke-Waterloo 21 minutes late. 17.14 Romsey-Totton axed. 17.17 Guildford-Waterloo 16 minutes late. Passengers on the 17.21 Weybridge-Waterloo thrown off at Clapham Junction. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 24 minutes late. 17.26 Reading-Waterloo 12 minutes late. 17.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. Passengers on the 17.48 Waterloo-Alton thrown off at Farnham. 17.50 Portsmouth-Waterloo axed due to no driver. 17.51 Waterloo-Portsmouth 40 minutes late. 17.56 Waterloo-Portsmouth 15 minutes late. 17.56 Windsor-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.05 Waterloo-Poole 14 minutes late. 18.10 Waterloo-Yeovil 28 minutes late. 18.156 Waterloo-Portsmouth 20 minutes late. 18.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 13 minutes late. 18.21 Waterloo-Basingstoke 17 minutes late. 18.25 Totton-Romsey axed between Totton and Redbridge. 18.30 Waterloo-Weymouth 27 minutes late. 18.32 Waterloo-Portsmouth 16 minutes late. 18.34 Waterloo-Kingston-Waterloo 20 minutes late. 18.35 Waterloo-Exeter 24 minutes late. 18.36 Guildford-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 18.39 Reading-Brighton axed due to duff stock. 18.40 Waterloo-Havant axed between Waterloo and Clapham Junction. 18.50 Waterloo-Poole 12 minutes late. 19.05 Waterloo-Bristol axed between Waterloo and Woking. 19.05 Alton-Waterloo axed between Alton and Farnham. 19.12 Waterloo-Basingstoke axed. 19.23 Farnham-Waterloo 23 minutes late. 19.54 Reading-Waterloo 22 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Ascot, except Staines, axed for operational convenience. 20.17 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late. 20.24 Reading-Waterloo 22 minutes late; all intermediate stops after Ascot, except Staines, axed for operational convenience. 20.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 30 minutes late. 20.32 Portsmouth-Southampton 28 minutes late. 20.33 Waterloo-Alton 20 minutes late. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 25 minutes late. 21.20 Portsmouth-Waterloo 11 minutes late. 21.33 Waterloo-Alton 15 minutes late. 22.00 Waterloo-Portsmouth reduced to 4 coaches.

26/11/04 Signalling problems at Waterloo in the morning peak; 05.42 from Poole, for example, 15 minutes late. 13.48 Weymouth-Waterloo 16 minutes late. 13.57 Brighton-Basingstoke axed between Brighton and Hove. 16.39 Waterloo-Weybridge axed. 16.45 Waterloo-Poole formed of new class 444 Desiro units; 15 minutes late by Totton and the air conditioning so active that some commuters wore their overcoats. 17.25 Portsmouth-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 17.51 Weybrifdge-Waterloo 14 minutes late. 18.54 Portsmouth-Winchester axed due to no guard. Passengers on the 18.57 Brighton-Reading thrown off at Basingstoke. Passengers on the 19.17 Waterloo-Woking thrown off at Clapham Junction. 20.47 Portsmouth-Waterloo 15 minutes late. 20.56 Waterloo-Reading axed due to no driver. 21.24 Reading-Portsmouth axed between Reading and Basingstoke. 22.24 Reading-Waterloo axed due to no driver.

TONBRIDGE MEETING OF THE RAIL PASSENGERS COMMITTEE

The last public meeting of the Southern Committee of 2004 was held in Tonbridge on 26 October. The Group was grateful for the opportunity to be represented. As would be expected, this meeting focused on issues affecting users of South Eastern Trains, the only non-privatised passenger train operation on the national rail system.

Disruption workshop

The morning session comprised a "disruption workshop", aimed at increasing passenger awareness of technical and safety issues when disruption occurs. Representatives of the train operating companies gave presentations relating to actual examples of serious disruption.

Issues identified included:

* information systems tend to break down at times of disruption when passengers have the greatest needs for information - necessary to maintain good information flow;

* cause of disruption can sometimes be difficult to identify, especially where train computer equipment involved - danger of increased delay from working on wrong assumptions;

* passengers can quickly become restless and this can result in further delays - need to focus on looking after passengers and getting them to their destinations, rather than on trains;

* passengers should not be evacuated from trains at non-station sites unless unavoidable - many locations difficult to access;

* rescue locomotives helpful but can be provided only at a limited number of sites;

* management needs to plan quickly, communicate the plan to staff on the ground, and keep to it; * balance between central and local control - guards can be kept in touch with wider picture by text messages;

* promises to passengers, for example about available alternative services and connections should not be broken.

South Eastern Trains

SET reviewed the objectives they set themselves when taking the operation back from Connex. Broadly speaking, the message then was that they would concentrate on getting basics right and introducing new trains. SET considered that they were around 70% successful to date on meeting the objectives, rather better than that on staffing and new trains, but rather worse on performance.

The overarching aim is to focus on the Kent passenger rather than the Kent railway. Customer service ethos to be developed in 2005. Cohesive senior management structure working well and major staff training programme in hand.

Big focus on detail. Cleaning and removal of graffiti much improved. Punctuality improving. Complaints significantly reduced since last year. Complaints handling being brought in-house and moved from Tonbridge to HQ.

First class re-installed on trains where removed. First new higher-density suburban units introduced. "Refreshment" of Networker trains has started. Reliability of Networker fleet still a problem - performance of peak hour metro services hasn't improved to the same extent as that of main line trains.

Programme for next 12 months is basically more of the same - continue with basic improvements; get rid of slam door trains; learn from complaints; deal with short platform issue (Networkers are being transferred to outer-suburban duties and don't have selective door opening); more trains where needed; on-time reopening of Higham tunnel.

Network Rail

Infrastructure performance has improved in every area since maintenance brought back in-house. Improvement of 35% in Wessex area. Power supply has kept ahead of introduction of new trains.

Strategic Rail Authority

Infrastructure cost of around £700 million for introduction of new trains on the third rail network - £600m for power supply and £100m for stations and depots.

No Mark I trains after Autumn 2005. Halfway point reached.

Demand for rail travel growing but changes to infrastructure expensive. Have to make best use of existing railway.

Route utilisation strategy for Brighton main line identified. Involves integrating Gatwick Express services to provide 10-minute interval service from Victoria to East Croydon and Gatwick, with 2 per hour continuing to Brighton and one each to Littlehampton, Bognor, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Can't comment on Integrated Kent Franchise; decision awaited from Secretary of State. Over 12,000 responses to consultation. Transport Minister will visit Kent to explain how decision will improve services. [This implied that the decision would be positive; that the go-ahead was announced the day after the meeting looks like excessively careful handling of news]

First Great Western Link

North Downs Line punctuality 5%-6% better than in April. Leaf fall a particular problem for this route.

Virgin Trains

New afternoon service from Brighton in December timetable. Cross Country franchise will remain and be enlarged. Virgin will launch a strong bid. In future Virgin will follow other operators in selling only full-fare tickets on trains (except where ticket cannot be bought at station).

Thameslink

Line severed between Kings Cross Thameslink and St Pancras for 35 weeks; now into week 6. [Paradoxically] performance has shot up 10% since cross-London working stopped. Better to the North of London than to the South.

South West Trains

Introduction of new trains continues, and new timetable from December.

Questions

Concerns about missed connections, upward cascading of Networkers from suburban to middle-distance work; limited and back-breaking seats on new suburban Electrostar trains; ticket office at Higham sometimes closed despite its being a temporary terminus because of the tunnel works; poor performance on the Uckfield line [acknowledged by Southern but working for big improvements].

[Editorial footnote]

This was the final meeting of the Committee under its current status. In future there will be just the central Rail Passengers Council with a regional presence. The future is therefore somewhat unclear, but the Chairman expected that there would be another public meeting in April 2005.

The Committee has gone through big changes in recent years. It is consistently energetic with a wide range of substantial projects to its credit. With the arrival of Wendy Toms as Chairman, there was much greater emphasis on passengers' voices being heard, with some public meetings comprising an evening forum as well as the traditional all-day agenda.

The current format has tended to reduce and control questioning - less time for questions and more controlled questioning (invitation to suggest questions in advance / having short question periods relating to particular agenda items). This may well reflect the passing of the RPC to the SRA. With Richard Bowker handing out ever-greater sums in subsidy to even the worst-performing rail companies, informed ad hoc questioning could clearly be difficult to manage.

With changes in the structure of the industry, we would hope that individual taxpayer-passengers will have enhanced opportunities to voice their thoughts. Questions from the public may sometimes be ill-informed, but being able to put them goes to the roots of democracy. Indeed, even ill-informed questions can stimulate new insights and generate informed debate and decisions (SET's concept of learning from complaints).

Unless RPC meetings can remain lively and rail managers can be put on the spot, public interest may decline. The Commons Select Committee considered that the RPC network needed to be more "insistent" in dealing with the industry. This "insistence" is more often evident in user groups. It is noticeable that a significant proportion of those who attend the RPC's public meetings are "regulars". This is fine - there are user groups and local authorities who will take a continuing interest, but it would be good to see more non-regulars again, as seemed to be the trend at the evening forums.

Looking at the Southern Committee's annual report, they are surely mistaken in thinking that passengers are not interested in who runs their trains. Many passengers realise that some operators are much better than others - from GNER and Chiltern at the top to South West Trains always around the bottom. Why else did the Yorkshire Post campaign for GNER against the rival franchise bid from Virgin Trains?

It is also disappointing that the report includes an unamended report of the commuters' diary project, which we believe distorts passengers' markings heavily in favour of SWT and to the detriment of Southern. The RPC has never refuted our assertion that their methodology was statistically invalid, because it awarded points by adding together relative placings under individual headings when, for example, second place under one heading can represent a much higher percentage marking than second place under another.

We wish the Committee members well, thank them for their efforts, and look forward to the future with interest.

SOUTHERN COUNTIES RAILWAY SOCIETY MEETING

Peter Murnaghan, Project Manager, South Hampshire Rapid Transit Network, addressed the society on 16 October about the aspirations of the Hampshire County Council Environment Department.

In the next 10 years, the Government requires mass housing development within the Southampton-Fareham-Portsmouth-Havant-Waterlooville conurbation. This will increase traffic to a degree that will cause peak time gridlock on major roads and the M27 motorway. Consequently, the Council still has rail transport firmly in mind.

Whilst the Portsmouth-Gosport-Fareham system was rejected for financial reasons (lack of confidence with the banks for loans due to increased estimates), the project will not be allowed to die because life in the Gosport-Fareham area could become unbearable in years to come.

A possibility is guided busways and ordinary bus lanes as on the A3 out of Portsmouth. However, road widening is not necessarily a long-term solution. Building a new road between Gosport and Fareham would involve the demolition of numerous properties.

Other issues discussed were:

* the possibility of a light rail system between Fareham and Southampton, using a street tram which would cross the River Itchen at Woolston and terminate somewhere in the vicinity of the current Red Funnel Ferry Terminal.

* A new rail junction alongside Eastleigh Railway Works to allow Wessex Trains services to run via Southampton Airport Parkway.

* A passenger train service to Marchwood initially, and then on to Hythe where a station would be built convenient to the town centre. Very long term, the service might extend to Fawley. There would be a new station at Hounsdown (Jacobs Gutter Lane) to serve local housing and a school. A decision on this proposal awaits funding and the Government's decision on a new SWT franchise. Route upgrading and interest by the train operator needed. A possibility is to extend the Romsey-Totton service if additional diesel trains available. Electrification of the line is unlikely.

Light rail projects have been completed in France and Germany which blend with the environment. The UK is sadly lagging behind European cities. We have aspirations but they are very long-term.

Footnote

The Southern Daily Echo of 27/10/04 reported enquiries by Dr Julian Lewis MP to the Transport Minister about re-establishing passenger trains on the Southampton-Totton-Hythe line to relieve grossly unacceptable traffic volumes on the A326. The Department for Transport replied that there were no plans to upgrade the freight line between Totton and Hythe because of pressure on the SRA's budget [massive handouts to companies like SWT].

There was more positive news in the Echo of 12/11/04, which quoted the Transport Department's permanent secretary as saying there was still a 70 per cent chance of the Portsmouth-Gosport-Fareham tramway going ahead. Then, on 24/11/04, BBC's 'South Today' reported that local authorities had submitted a cheaper scheme to the Government. This would omit the link between Fareham rail and bus stations.

THE UNFRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT OF FRATTON STATION

[Received 27/10/2004] "I am based in Portsmouth and my local station is Fratton. This is the least glamorous station in the city but arguably as busy as Portsmouth Harbour as its catchment area is the whole of the south eastern corner of Portsea Island. All trains stop here yet its facilities are appalling and have never been improved in the lifetime of SWTs custodianship save for a coat of paint.

Access to/from the down platforms is poor for anyone with mobility problems; such people are advised to use Portsmouth and Southsea. In an effort to impose "secure station" concept the footbridge, shared by the travelling and non-travelling public, has been partitioned by what can only be described as a metal cage. This restricts the flow on the bridge and is, in my view, dangerous. The reality is that the doors to the cage are rarely closed, so the secure concept is not implemented.

Access to the ticket hall and up platform is through two pairs of swing doors. For cyclists, this is the only way to get to the uncovered but well-used cycle parking area. Often one of the two doors is locked. On most stations such doors have been replaced by automatic opening ones - not Fratton!

The platforms are short, accommodating 8 carriages of the slam door stock. When a 10-car class 442 or 444 stops only the doors of the front unit are opened. On the up platform, the main entrance, covered area, buffet, and ticket office are at the country end so when a long train arrives the doors where all the people are waiting remain closed and there is a mad rush to the London end of the platform. It is too much to ask SWT to stop the train so that the rear 5 cars are in the platform? We regulars had assumed that selective door opening (SDO) would fix the problem when the Desiros arrived, but we were wrong. Southern have SDO on their Electrostars.

The toilets at Fratton are a disgrace. They were a disgrace in BR days and now they are worse. Often they are "closed for repairs". These days they have blue lighting.

Apart from the buffet there is no waiting area. The ticket hall used to have two long benches but they have been removed. No reason was given. There is still only one automatic ticket machine which dates from Network SouthEast days. It does not accept credit cards. SWT have made little or no investment in ticketing yet it remains keen to ensure all passengers have tickets before travelling. Good technology could even save jobs as efficient and reliable machines would reduce the need for ticket office staff."

BBC WHISTLE BLOWER PROGRAMME

BBC1's "Whistle Blower" programme of 4 November exposed sub-standard track maintenance on the Forth Bridge and in the Wanborough area, near Guildford. There was also evidence of wasteful staffing, a casual attitude on the part of some employees towards their jobs, and lapses in staff safety procedures.

Network Rail claimed that there was no risk to passenger safety, and SWT put a notice to this effect on their website. But, however untypical the scenes recorded by the BBC's undercover film makers may have been, the programme was disturbing. It takes only one small lapse on the railways to cause a terrible accident - as illustrated by the Clapham disaster. The dreadful smash in Berkshire, two days after the programme was broadcast, was not the fault of the rail industry. However, there will now be questions about whether half-barrier level crossings are suitable on high speed routes, and the smash was a tragic reminder that, although rail is a very safe form of transport, when accidents do happen they can have appalling consequences.

Although it attracted less publicity, the staff safety issue identified by the BBC was particularly pertinent. The October issue of 'Rail Staff' records that 9 rail employees were killed in 2003-04, the highest number since 1994-95 and the highest rate per hundred thousand employees since 1992-93.

Footnotes

The Metro of 8/11/04 records the comments of a student who experienced the horror of the Berkshire crash: "Then the lights went out and the next thing we knew the train was on its side. It felt like we had spun over and, after that, I could feel bodies on top of me and being thrown in different directions. The noise was terrifying. All we could hear was the banging of the rails, the screeching and smashing of the carriages and the sound of them running on gravel. My jacket got ripped up. It went from a blue jacket to a red one. I thought I was going to die". The paper notes that the number of deaths on the railways is tiny compared with the 3,508 who died on Britain's roads last year. [Nevertheless, no room for sub-standard infrastructure on high speed lines]

A letter in the Southern Daily Echo of 12/11/04 suggests that the Berkshire crash could be replicated in Totton. Cars heading off the crossing and northwards along Junction Road have to cut through the southbound traffic lane and sometimes come to a standstill. Following cars may have to stop when actually on the crossing. [A good point, but this should not happen in practice so long as the CCTV on Totton crossing is in operation and properly monitored]

MISCELLANEA

Waterloo's "Hinder Desk". On 23/11/04 the guard of the 17.15 Waterloo-Weymouth announced that a Basingstoke passenger had been told by the Waterloo Help Desk to join the train, which runs non-stop to Winchester. He asked any other passengers affected by this wrong information to contact him. Some couple of dozen passengers leapt up. The train didn't bother stopping at Basingstoke.

On 25/11/04, the 16.30 Waterloo-Weymouth was freezing cold despite bodies being squeezed together because the train was reduced from 10 coaches to 5 (not advertised on SWT's website at 16.00). The guard announced that the overcrowding was due to the train having only 5 coaches! No indication as to why, so presumably the usual Stagecoach story of duff stock.

Passengers are complaining that SWT's new Desiro trains are much less comfortable than the trains they have replaced. Now that the thin cushions have been compacted over a few weeks by being sat on, they feel about as comfortable as the average waiting room chair.

A smart new bus stop has appeared on either side of the road outside Totton station, advertising the point as a rail-bus interchange. One large panel is headed "Bus times". It provides a map of Totton but only an enquiry number for the times of buses. It should not be beyond the wit of man in the 21st century to provide some indication of bus departure times, especially as many times are at the same minutes past every hour during much of the day. Not everyone owns a mobile phone.

Waterloo station travel centre at 08.15 on Friday 12 November 2004. Only two positions staffed and long delays. Having asked if the new December timetables were available yet, an enquirer was told that some leaflets were expected that day, but they could be put on the racks only if the manpower was available. At 16.15 there were none of the new leaflets on the racks, even though they had been displayed at Southampton Central from at least the start of the day.

The live train running information on SWT's website has been replaced with a new "Journeycheck" facility. This is far less user-friendly, being slower to access and in the tiniest font imaginable. Very poor for people with limited sight. As with the previous information system, only a selection of badly delayed trains is shown - more can often be found by accessing the National Rail website, station by station. Eurostar is to pull out of Waterloo International completely when the new St Pancras terminal opens in 2007. It is expected that the additional capacity at Waterloo will be available to SWT. [How about a Waterloo-Olympia-Ealing Broadway-Heathrow Airport service? This would serve people arriving at Waterloo or Waterloo East from a huge geographical area]

The manufacturers of wheelchair ramps must be doing a brisk business. Why have ramps suddenly appeared on many SWT stations where disabled people would have no chance of accessing the platform unless they suffered the indignity of being carried in their wheelchairs across steep footbridge steps? This seems to be paying lip service to the latest stage of the Disability Discrimination Act. No such problem for disabled people at Southampton Central. Three identical ramps are tethered alongside each other on platform 1: one marked "Virgin Trains", one marked "Wessex Trains" and one unattributed.

A letter in the Evening Standard of 8/10/04 complains that barriers at Euston are being closed two minutes before departure times. In two cases trains have been noted leaving one and a half minutes early. Virgin Trains say this helps trains stick to the timetable; patently, running early is not sticking to the timetable.

NORTH SOMERSET CYCLE CAMPAIGN

[Received 1/11/2004] "In May this year, Wessex Trains - the primary rail operator in the South West, quietly announced modifications to their cycles on trains policy. On a large number of services across the whole region, cyclists are now banned between 7 and 9am and 4 and 6pm. At other times, cycles are restricted to a maximum of 2 per train (when in some cases there is capacity for 12), many of which are not reservable in advance.

Cyclists across the region want to see this ban reversed and the restrictions altered. To facilitate this, North Somerset Cycle Campaign has launched a 'send-a-fax' campaign which consists of an electronic form on their web site ( http://www.nscycle.org.uk ). You can fill in this form with your details and it will automatically fax a letter of complaint on your behalf to Wessex Trains (for free).

In order to achieve the impact required to encourage Wessex Trains to reverse their bicycle ban, we need you to visit the site and fill in this form - it takes only a few seconds. Please spread the word to your friends, relatives and colleagues in the region* to fill it in.

* More information on the Wessex Trains cycling policy and how to fill in the form is available directly at http://www.nscycle.org.uk/wessex.php Wessex Trains operate in the area from Penzance to Gloucester through Bristol and Bath to Brighton. If you haven't tried to get your bike on a local train recently, find out what's happened on the website." Footnote

The Evening Standard of 11/10/04 reported that South West Trains' decision to ban cycles from more of its trains had attracted serious criticism. The article states that, "The decision to enforce the ban was revealed in August in a leaked memo to senior staff at South West Trains."

The Guardian of 12/11/04 reported that the SRA had yielded to train operators who wish to ban cycles from their services, in contradiction of the Government's policy of encouraging cycling.

ADDITIONAL PRESS RESEARCH

DANGEROUS SIGNAL IN SOUTHAMPTON

Signal E744, between Southampton Central and Millbrook stations, is among the 12 most dangerous in Britain, according to a report by the Chief Inspector of Railways. The signal was relocated in the late 1990s to make it safer, but it has been passed at danger again. It has now been fitted with brighter lights. Concern has been expressed by local MP Alan Whitehead and by the Rail Passengers Committee for Southern England. [Southern Daily Echo 19/10/04]

LEAF FALL DELAYS

Network Rail warns that leaves are bigger and juicier this year because of the warm and wet summer. There could be major disruption if most leaves come down at the same time. The danger period is from early October to early December. [Evening Standard 12/10/04]

LOCAL LINES

Autumn's railway bill, which promises to give local authorities power to decide whether to spend money on railways or other forms of transport such as buses, trams or road improvements, could threaten the future of some rail routes. At worst this could lead to a new tranche of "Beeching" closures. The Rail Passengers Council thinks that the London area will be immune, as will operationally cheap lines like the Cornish branches. Lines most at risk could be more expensive commuter routes around the major provincial cities. [Observer 3/1/04]

[Food for thought: Is not the problem with the railways that the resources they need have been siphoned off by companies like Stagecoach, whose Chairman Brian Souter considers that "capitalism is based on greed"? Have the railways become the microcosm of a Britain in which London is a city state and the rest of the country is an also-ran? London has a vastly better public transport system than almost anywhere else in Britain, yet it is inadequate because the capital has the lion's share of the population, business and tourism. Should the low-profile Commission for Integrated Transport become a high-profile Commission for Integrating Britain, especially now that regional devolution is off the agenda?]

LONDON TRANSPORT ISSUES

Trials are beginning on the Jubilee and Northern Lines to replace signals with a radio beam system. Trains would "talk to each other" via on-board computers. If successful, train frequency could be increased by 25% and delays caused by signal breakdowns wiped out. The system could not be in use on the Jubilee Line until 2009 or on the Northern Line until 2011. [Evening Standard 12/10/04]

Secretary of State Alistair Darling has appointed an independent chairman (Adrian Montague) with "decisive new powers" to push ahead the deadlocked Crossrail scheme which would link Maidenhead and Heathrow with Shenfield and Ebbsfleet. Arguments are still ongoing about who should pay the £10bn cost. [Evening Standard 13/10/04]

London buses are now carrying a record number of passengers, with an increase of 20% over the last year. 7,500 buses are on the road at peak times. [Evening Standard 28/10/04].

The Mayor of London has unveiled ambitious new proposals to transform travel in London:

Tube

New air-conditioned trains for the District, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and East London Lines by 2009; pilot air-cooling scheme that involves running cold water pipes along the deeper level tube lines; East London Line to be extended to Dalston in the North and Croydon and Crystal Palace in the South; Metropolitan Line to be extended to Watford Junction to link with the National Rail network; futuristic improvements at Wembley Park station to serve as a gateway to the new stadium; upgrading of lines, energy savings, noise reduction and more lifts for disabled people and parents with buggies.

Docklands Light Railway

New links to Woolwich, Stratford and then to Barking Reach to complement 2012 Olympic bid; three-car service on the Bank to Lewisham line (key link between the City and Canary Wharf) with some platform extensions.

Rail

CCTV to be introduced on all trains on Southern, Thameslink, South East Trains and ONE routes.

Roads

Westward extension of congestion charge to Kensington and Chelsea. New bridge linking Greenwich and Newham. Widening of the North Circular road at Bounds Green. Widening of the A23 at Coulsdon. Widening of Thames Road in Bexley. A new low-emission zone by 2007, with heavily polluting lorries banned from Greater London.

Buses

Low level, CCTV-equipped, buses throughout London by 2006. New radio system to improve reliability and real time passenger information. Quieter and cleaner vehicles. New bus transit systems linking Greenwich to Abbey Wood and Ilford to Dagenham, using guided paths banned to cars.

Trams

Extension of Croydon system to Crystal Palace. New links from Shepherds Bush to Uxbridge and Camden to South London if additional funding secured.

Cycling / Walking

Safer pavements, new crossings, improved street lighting, plus enhanced cycling network with more routes and extended cycle lanes. [Evening Standard 12/10/04]

FAST COMMUTER TRAINS ON THE CHANNEL TUNNEL RAIL LINK

Ministers said to be still arguing over the cost of the proposals. There is no hope of getting the trains up and running by the proposed 2007/08 deadline. More than £300 million would be needed for 18 new trains, and connecting routes would need to be upgraded. There are also serious concerns that the trains would not attract custom. However, they would complement the proposal to build tens of thousands of new homes in Ashford. [Evening Standard 13/10/04]

A fortnight later the proposals were approved. 140mph services - Britain's answer to the Japanese bullet trains - will slash 40 minutes off journey times from Ashford to London. It is also expected that they will "call at stations like London Bridge" though at lower speeds. [The downside of these exciting new services has always been that most commuters want London Bridge / Charing Cross / Cannon Street services and there is little point in whisking them to St Pancras if they then have to travel south on already-crowded tubes and buses]. [Evening Standard 27/10/04]

BUSES

A report by the Commission for Integrated Transport recommends that rival bus operators should be allowed to collaborate on timetables and tickets to cut waiting times at bus stops. The current rules were introduced in 1985 when Nicholas Ridley privatised Britain's local buses. [Guardian 26/10/04]

First Group has proposed a tram-bus hybrid vehicle called the StreetCar. It would cost twice as much as a bus but only 20% the price of a tram. The vehicles would require dedicated routeways only in selected bottleneck city centre areas. Many large cities have expressed their enthusiasm for the idea.

ENVIRONMENT

Greenhouse gases are accumulating more rapidly, giving rise to fears that climate change could be speeding up. Scientists are baffled. Dr Piers Forster of the meteorology department of the University of Reading said that if this rate change is permanent, it will be of enormous concern because global predictions for the next hundred years will have to be redone. In September, Tony Blair had given a warning of the "catastrophic consequences" which climate change could bring. [Evening Standard 11/10/04]

Transport for London has admitted that official targets for reducing congestion and cutting air pollutants will be missed. This is despite the 70,000 fewer vehicles entering London since the congestion charge was introduced. The problem is in the London suburbs. TfL has amended its business plan. Passengers and drivers will be expected to pay more. "Cashless" buses will be introduced by 2006 to cut waiting time at bus stops. Free bus travel for people aged under 16 by September 2006. More safer routes to school. Late night Underground services on Fridays and Saturdays and a low-emission zone banning polluting lorries and taxis. Additional ticket inspectors [a recent report indicated that the level of fares evasion is questionable; on average London's 150 tube and bus inspectors identify one person a day without a ticket]. [Evening Standard 27/10/04]

Researchers at the University of Southern California have reported a link between long-term air pollution and the early stages of artery disease in people long before they showed obvious symptoms. Tiny particles of pollutants from fossil fuels used in motor vehicles and industrial processes such as smelting and processing metals were triggering inflammatory reactions in the respiratory system and blood vessels, triggering a long process that leads to a hardening of the arteries and then heart disease and strokes. [Guardian 8/11/04]

PRIVATE EYE POINTS (NOS 1116-1119)

Privatisation

Privatisation has been a costly failure. It was an attempt to introduce competition on the railways. Only Virgin's services have altered radically and these are an expensive mess. Rail franchises are so complex that £41m of taxpayers' money has been wasted in the last three years on protracted competitions. Government still unable to decide how long franchises should run; huge disparities among recent exercises. Geographical boundaries of franchises are in a state of flux and the latest plan is to reduce the number of franchises from 25 to 16.

The huge costs quoted for bringing the railways back into the public sector are based on ending all franchises immediately, rather than on not renewing franchises when they expire. Public sector SET has improved its performance whilst private sector Southern and SWT have got worse. Yet SET is to be re-franchised. The trouble with privatisation is that private companies do well when the going's good and taxpayers pick up the bill when it isn't.

Stagecoach is reportedly getting a £3.1m subsidy for running the Ryde-Shanklin line (8.5 miles and 12 carriages). HSBC is receiving £140,000 in leasing charges for the carriages, which were built 66 years ago, about the time that Hitler invaded Austria.

The Government is quietly saving taxpayers £250m a year by underwriting Network Rail's borrowing. This achievement is not trumpeted because of the pretence that Network Rail is a private company.

Transport policy

New schemes appear to be driven by extraneous factors. The Jubilee Line extension was linked to the opening of the Millennium Dome, and further schemes are being linked to Britain's bid to host the 2012 Olympics. Yet these schemes have ample justification in their own right in helping to solve London's transport needs.

The advantages in First Group's proposal to build a hybrid between a bus and tram are difficult to gauge. Playing field is not level; bus firms get their infrastructure on a plate but trams are deemed pointless unless they are profitable.

Level crossings and bridges

The Berkshire level crossing tragedy illustrates the need to spend more on road safety rather than making safe railways even safer. Last year, 18 people died at level crossings, twice as many as in 2000-01. Rail bridges were struck 2,013 times by road vehicles, compared with 1,533 in 1999-2000. With so many incidents fatalities are inevitable. By this start of this year improvements had been made in only 100 sites to guard against another Selby disaster. Why should rail passengers pay for level crossing improvements when road users are usually responsible for accidents? Higher fares would push more people on to the roads and into greater danger.

Substitute buses

National Express and Arriva should know about running buses. Yet rail passengers at Hinkley were promised a replacement bus but simply left to get taxis for themselves. At Rhyl, replacement buses have been departing empty before passengers can board.

[A photocopy of press items referred to in Hogrider can be obtained from the South Hampshire Rail Users' Group]