'The other passengers were astonishingly passive'.... the irate blog from Andrew Pierce makes you wonder if commuters DO get numb about the misery of their train service...

"When the then Transport Secretary Philip Hammond described trains as a play thing of the rich he clearly didn't have Southern Railways in mind.

"The service is more cattle class than first class. I had the misfortune to have to use their trains twice last week. Commuting from Hove to London Victoria on the 9.50 am train I was squeezed into the carriage with at least 70 other people who like me had to stand the whole way.

"There were almost twice as many people standing as sitting. The woman conductor, who sounded like she was auditioning for a part in Monty Python's Flying Circus, never apologised for the chaos and carnage.

"Instead  she used the intercom to repeatedly lecture people about what tickets were and weren't valid. Her inane witterings merely underlined the view that all Southern Railway is interested in is profit – and to hell with the public service ethos.

"Even though it was school holidays, and there were hundreds of families and day trippers on board, the Scrooge like management of Southern Railway had not bothered to put on any additional carriages.

"Returning to Hove on Sunday evening just after 7pm it was closer to 100 people forced to stand for most of the journey. Just what would happen if the train had to brake abruptly?

"The other passengers were astonishingly passive and merely shrugged their shoulders when I asked why they didn't complain.

"But from what they told me they would be belly aching about every journey every single day the service is so appalling.  What a relief I'm not a regular commuter. So much for the age of the train."

Is Andrew Pierce right? http://tinyurl.com/6yfrswz Should everyone be making more fuss?