Southern Rail fines commuters for standing in first class section of overcrowded trains

The company stands by its decision

Southern Rail isn’t having a great week. On Monday it emerged that the company was presiding over “Britain’s least punctual rail service”, and had rejigged timetables to accommodate its regular lateness.

Now, the company is being criticised for fining commuters forced to stand in the first class section of the train because there was no room elsewhere.

According to the Independent, Oxted commuter Peter Boyland wrote to MPs Crispin Blunt and Sam Gyimah to complain after he saw ticket inspectors fining passengers on the 7.36am Oxted to London Bridge service on 22 April.

In his letter, Boyland said: “This is a fine example of the attitude of Southern, who only seem concerned about protecting their revenue, and less about providing an acceptable level of service.”

One commuter involved took to Twitter to vent their frustration at the service.

@SouthernRailUK @RedhillGreens Guard fined me for STANDING in1st class; train so crowded physically not go anywhere else, on train now.

— kevin russell (@kevinru54982210) April 22, 2015

@kevinru54982210 If you are in First Class with a standard class ticket then you are right to be fined. ^Greg

— SouthernRailUK (@SouthernRailUK) April 22, 2015

@SouthernRailUK GREG! WHERE are you meant to go the when dangerously over crowded and physically there is no where else to stand?

— kevin russell (@kevinru54982210) April 22, 2015

Southern Rail said to the Independent: “In this instance, passengers who were issued with penalty fares were sitting in first class accommodation whilst holding standard class tickets. First class accommodation is not declassified automatically if the train is busy, but conductors can use their discretion to declassify if it is deemed necessary.”

Commuters using Southern Rail face some of the UK’s least dependable trains. This week, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that a fifth of Southern’s trains did not meet arrival targets and at peak times, 37.4% of trains were more than five minutes late.

Do you think Southern were right to fine their customers? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @LondonlovesBiz