Passenger protest against Southern Trains

[Paul Reids Sock]

Do train companies still give refunds if your train was delayed by a certain amount?

It could be worth people, especially with (train not football) season tickets writing with the delays and example timetables when they purchased them and claiming the cost back in compensation. if enough people do that then they will be hit in the pocket at least

 

[dazzer6666]

Do train companies still give refunds if your train was delayed by a certain amount?

It could be worth people, especially with (train not football) season tickets writing with the delays and example timetables when they purchased them and claiming the cost back in compensation. if enough people do that then they will be hit in the pocket at least

Yes. Most commuters are doing this anyway (there is even an app to help). I don't think Southern are bothered too much - they're paid to run the franchise I think ?

 

[Springal]

Do train companies still give refunds if your train was delayed by a certain amount?

It could be worth people, especially with (train not football) season tickets writing with the delays and example timetables when they purchased them and claiming the cost back in compensation. if enough people do that then they will be hit in the pocket at least

Southern seemingly don't care every time they give me a £5-£15 refund when they delay. Worst thing is us as football supporters have no come back here, as the club essentially pay for our travel.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

Oh, it will be totally forgotten by the next election. As I posted last week, one of the reasons that the government is pursuing this policy is it knows there's no electoral comeback. Some people will blame the unions and even if the majority blame the government, most of the seats are such stonking Tory majorities, they're happy to lose a few hundred votes here and there.

If SASTA was operating in a region full of marginal seats, the government would have a different response

I agree with your general gist, but surely the constituencies of Brighton, Hove and Lewes must be areas worth fighting for. None of them are true blue but all could be won.

 

[Gwylan]

I agree with your general gist, but surely the constituencies of Brighton, Hove and Lewes must be areas worth fighting for. None of them are true blue but all could be won.

Brighton Pav - Caroline has that in the bag, Labour in second place so nothing to be won there
Brighton Kemp Town - Kirby has a decent majority but he's been a spectacularly useless MP, Labour's implosion could help him here but this is one of two Sussex seats that Tories could lose
Hove - Labour held but Kyle could be deselected. Labour ructions could see this change hands - particularly if Kyle stood as independent/new Lab candidate
Lewes - Apart from one brief spell for the Lib Dems, this has been Tory held for more than 150 years. Caulfield has a slim majority but she's also been the one local MP who has been active on the commuters' case - that could stand her in good stead

 

[RandyWanger]

I'll be traveling down Friday using my Zone 1-6 season ticket to get into London Bridge and then my Albion season ticket to get out at Brighton, bunking the train from Couldson South to Haywards Heath effectively. That'll teach them

 

[Driver8]

I'll be traveling down Friday using my Zone 1-6 season ticket to get into London Bridge and then my Albion season ticket to get out at Brighton, bunking the train from Couldson South to Haywards Heath effectively. That'll teach them

I didn't think there were any trains on Friday?

 

[RandyWanger]

I didn't think there were any trains on Friday?

Thameslink

A revised timetable Southern and Gatwick Express service will operate between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport / Brighton. Thameslink services are expected to run to the normal timetable.

 

[Driver8]

Thameslink

Aha.

 

[RandyWanger]

Aha.

Hopefully! I'm leaving work early to aim for the 16:12 which should see me in Brighton by 17:30 giving me enough time to get a bus or taxi across the city. I'll work out how to get back to London after the game. Sadly because of SASTA my season ticket will be going unused for Colchester and Rotherham.

 

[Paul Reids Sock]

Yes. Most commuters are doing this anyway (there is even an app to help). I don't think Southern are bothered too much - they're paid to run the franchise I think ?

Southern seemingly don't care every time they give me a £5-£15 refund when they delay. Worst thing is us as football supporters have no come back here, as the club essentially pay for our travel.

Oh, in that case I am out of ideas! Don't live down south or use the trains but happy to help in anyway us outsiders can if there is anything we can do?

 

[pearl]

I propose a day of action against the shambles that is Southern Rail !!

I suggest we advertise a date where every person uses the trains that day buys a ticket from the station only to the next station, doesn't matter where your destination is you stay on the train.

Surely they can't enforce penalty fares on the 1000's of people travelling that day !!

Enough is enough !! Us passengers have been ****ed about for too long !!

If this takes off it could be huge !!

Thoughts ?

what about a sit-in, passengers refuse to get off trains

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Target what Southern Rail care about.


They don't care about :

- Ticket revenue
- Passenger inconvenience
- Running trains

The only thing they seem to care about is looking good in TV or radio interviews.


Therefore the only effective protest is one that makes Southern look bad.


No idea what that is, but highly visible protests at major Southern stations every day which very vocally criticise Southern Rail might be a start.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Target what Southern Rail care about.


They don't care about :

- Ticket revenue
- Passenger inconvenience
- Running trains

The only thing they seem to care about is looking good in TV or radio interviews.


Therefore the only effective protest is one that makes Southern look bad.


No idea what that is, but highly visible protests at major Southern stations every day which very vocally criticise Southern Rail might be a start.

Anyone know who gets the revenue from all these high quality advertising posters at stations up and down the line? If its SASTA, one very simple and highly effective way to hit them directly in the pocket would be to produce huge numbers of sticky back plastic posters and plaster them all over the advertising , both at stations and on the trains. It's a victim-less crime. F*ck 'em up!

 

[Stat Man]

There is a protest / March on DfT on August 10th for those of you working in London

https://twitter.com/southernrailout/status/760800634547437568

 

[Simster]

Oh, it will be totally forgotten by the next election. As I posted last week, one of the reasons that the government is pursuing this policy is it knows there's no electoral comeback. Some people will blame the unions and even if the majority blame the government, most of the seats are such stonking Tory majorities, they're happy to lose a few hundred votes here and there.

If SASTA was operating in a region full of marginal seats, the government would have a different response

I'm not so sure. On my rail users group, where people are very well informed and the issues and roles of the major players in this shambles are pretty well understood, the question was asked whether things are sufficiently bad to cause enough people to vote for a single issue party on an anti-status quo ticket. The numbers were alarmingly high.

The difficulty was determining a policy for this issue that satisfied everyone. Some blame the unions, some the Government, some blame southern. Then not everyone wants the railways re-nationalised, yet others believe this was always going to happen on a private rail with no competition.

Representing these disparate views on a "we've had enough of the shit railways" ticket is a real challenge

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I have probably missed something here, but aren't Southern wanting to remove guards from trains, as is their right as an employer? However, the union is saying they don't want this to happen so are refusing to work for long periods of time knowing how much this is going to disrupt innocent people?

It seems like the union's causing a lot of the commuter problems to me too, a bit like the doctors strikes which they claimed were about patient safety but really about money. This seems similar to me, they want to stop changes / modernisation by the rail operator because they are worried about potential job losses or reductions in wages for their members in the distant future.

The union have been the ones leading the militancy towards the train operator, and they have no interest in the paying passenger and the effect of their lives, but are only concerned with their members job roles remaining unchanged (and not public safety over who closes the doors but that is the spin that's being put on it to get the public to support them).

Public anger should be against them rather than the operator if they want this disruption brought to an end, imo.

 

[Murray 17]

It seems like the union's causing a lot of the commuter problems to me too, a bit like the doctors strikes which they claimed were about patient safety but really about money. This seems similar to me, they want to stop changes / modernisation by the rail operator because they are worried about potential job losses or reductions in wages for their members in the distant future.

The union have been the ones leading the militancy towards the train operator, and they have no interest in the paying passenger and the effect of their lives, but are only concerned with their members job roles remaining unchanged (and not public safety over who closes the doors but that is the spin that's being put on it to get the public to support them).

Public anger should be against them rather than the operator if they want this disruption brought to an end, imo.

My thoughts exactly.

People don't strike for the good of society, they do it to protect or improve their own work conditions.

 

[halbpro]

It seems like the union's causing a lot of the commuter problems to me too, a bit like the doctors strikes which they claimed were about patient safety but really about money. This seems similar to me, they want to stop changes / modernisation by the rail operator because they are worried about potential job losses or reductions in wages for their members in the distant future.

The union have been the ones leading the militancy towards the train operator, and they have no interest in the paying passenger and the effect of their lives, but are only concerned with their members job roles remaining unchanged (and not public safety over who closes the doors but that is the spin that's being put on it to get the public to support them).

Public anger should be against them rather than the operator if they want this disruption brought to an end, imo.

Whether you agree with the strikers or not, it's obvious that the disruption from this strike is the union's fault. Which is not to say that striking is wrong, but they felt backed into a corner and took the only action they saw available to them. The overall disruption to the service for the last two months or so though? That's Southern's fault, and Southern's alone. People have been angry about this for a while now, and the strike seems to be a tipping point.

 

[Arthur]

There is a protest / March on DfT on August 10th for those of you working in London

https://twitter.com/southernrailout/status/760800634547437568

During the strike