London commuters to conduct rush hour protest as Southern axes hundreds of train services

Commuters say they are 'fed up' of poor service from the Southern rail franchise, which plans to axe 341 train services a day for the next month

The train operator Southern Railway is to revise their timetable and will be cancelling 341 trains a day (Getty)

Frustrated commuters are expected to stage a rush-hour demonstration on Monday in protest over persistent delays and cancellations on the country’s worst rail services.

Protestors from the Surrey and Sussex commuter belt plan said they plan to gather at London’s Victoria station in fancy dress, holding signs welcoming people to "hell", as part of an attempt to put pressure on Southern rail franchise.

The protests are set to escalate this week as the Southern franchise’s operator, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) plans to introduce a month-long emergency timetable, during which 341 trains– 15 per cent of the service - will be cut each day.

Southern is ranked the country's worst rail company for customer satisfaction according to the National Passenger Railway Survey.

Alex Prosser-Snelling, an HR director from Horsham and one of the organisers of the Victoria protest, said more than 100 people had signed up to take part in the demonstration on Monday evening.

"We have got two or three counties’ worth of very, very angry people,” he said, "We aren’t people who protest normally, but everyone’s fed up of the service.”

“Southern mismanagement is needlessly wrecking passengers’ evenings, interfering with childcare, and stressing out the workforce. Southern needs to get a grip – and if they can’t or won’t, the government shouldn’t let them run a railway.”

Over the past year, Southern had the highest number of delayed or cancelled services of all 23 UK train operators.

The Government has warned that commuters may face another two years of delays and travel disruption as a result of staff shortages and a row over plans to change the role of nearly 500 conductors.

Mr Prosser-Snelling was one of around 150 commuters to attend a public meeting organised by the Conservative MP Jeremy Quin, regarding the on-going problems with Southern rail.

The Sunday Times reported that a London-based commuter, CJ Johnson, is organising a 48-hour boycott of the service next month, encouraging travellers to use alternative means of transport.

“This boycott is my first step in terms of trying to do something but beyond that there’s not much I would stop at because I am at breaking point,” she said.

Some passengers said they had been travelling in first-class carriages without valid tickets in protest, and others said they were considering a fare strike similar to that staged by passengers on First Great Western in 2008.

Fiona Lewis, 37, a communications consultant who travels to London once a week from Seaford in East Sussex, said there was “a lot of talk” among passengers of refusing to pay for tickets.

Ms Lewis said her journey should take around 90 minutes but recently has been taking her more than three hours as a result of the delays.

“I've seen grown men crying on the train because they are missing their kids so much,” she said.

Around14,000 passengers have signed a parliamentary petition calling on the government to find another firm to take on the rail franchise and replace GTR.

Those who have signed it said they have received email replies telling them train services will begin running as normal in 2018.

A spokesman for Govia Thameslink said: “We understand the strength of feeling among passengers, and their frustration at the poor service and increase in random cancellations since the dispute with the RMT began. That is why we are introducing the amended timetable from Monday to restore greater consistency in the short-term so that passengers can plan around it.

“We are very sorry for the effect on our passengers and we are determined to provide the level of service they rightly demand. We will continue to do everything we can to bring this unnecessary industrial action, which is affecting the service so badly, to a close.”