Slumming It On South Central

One thing I've noticed, is that the trains north of London are so much nicer than those down south.

For example, the trains to and from Cambridge are operated by WAGN. The ones I caught were fast, warm, clean, punctual, smooth and generally very comfortable. They had cleaners who emptied all the rubbish left on the train at the start and end of the journey. There was also a ticket inspector checking the train and tickets of all the passengers.

Compare that to my journey home on South Central tonight. The train was flithy, late, bone shaking and so cold you could see every breath. The windows were opaque from the grime and the graffitti etched into them.

It's obvious that South Central run a monopoly. What commercial incentive do they have to improve the service? People have to travel on their services no matter how bad they are. There is no alternative service.

I can just see their new slogan... "Sit Back! We're taking you for a ride."