Wild West.

If you ever wondered what it might be like careering across the undeveloped Wild West in a runaway stagecoach,  you might get some idea by making a late night journey on a South Western Railways train from London Waterloo south via Guildford.... to, say, Havant.

F arrived home really really late complaining about trains again.

Apparently if you leave London Waterloo bound for Havant on a late night train (say 2230), for no obvious reason South Western Railways replaces the 10 coach long distance trains it uses at peak commuting times (say 1830) with 12 coach suburban trains.

The numbers difference is that the peak time trains have fewer seats (2 each side of the aisle) in fewer carriages. The suburban trains have off centred aisles with 3 seats one side and two the other - 25% more seats late at night, and 2 extra carriages.

The suburban trains also have much less seat padding, and considerably less under-carriage suspension and roll-damping. This results in the passengers experiencing concussive random lurching from side to side (particularly on the bit of line between Godalming and Haslemere) as the train rattles over tracks that really have no place underneath a modern train proceeding at anything over 15 miles per hour. 

Whiplash was mentioned. Spinal injuries were hinted at.

Methinks she doth complain too much.

The line is to be closed for a week this month to 'bring it into the 21st Century'; allegedly to make it so that more trains per hour can run over it (i.e. go faster we guess), but the reality these days is that so many trains get cancelled for lack of staff (declining to work overtime, or simply on strike), the passengers who suffer the line are unlikely to see any appreciable improvement in their overall travel experiences any time soon. 

Bring back the stagecoach...