I WRITE in total frustration at the ineptitude of our local railway .

For decades now we have been subjected to delays, cancellations and engineering work . We have also suffered the industrial action by Aslef and RMT .

Yet the service continues to decline and trains, if they run at all ,take longer to get to destinations than in the days of steam .

As an example, last weekend I needed to travel to Waterloo. I knew there was engineering work so arrived at Bournemouth in good time for the replacement bus.

There were possibly 80 people waiting. One single decker was provided so many were left behind.

For the connecting services to Southampton a minibus was sent!

On the return no bus was available (due to an accident on M27) and no information given to the station staff as to when one would possibly be available.

This morning I had advanced booked to travel at 8.59am. The service was then cancelled last Monday . The advice was the next available service was ….8.59am!

I went to the station for clarification .

The train was indeed cancelled so a replacement ticket for 8.18am issued .

I arrive at 7.50am to find the 8.18am is cancelled.

In desperation I ask if I can travel on 8.02am to Winchester to connect with other services. The response?

Don’t know. There’s strike action and signal failures through the New Forest. So here I am sitting in the New Forest on a stationary train not knowing if, when or how I will get to an eleven thirty appointment in London .

If it was unusual I wouldn’t mind but it seems a daily occurrence that there are issues of some kind despite the years of work and the millions spent.

The country depends on its rail infrastructure and it’s simply not fit for purpose.

I wrote to SWR for comment.

Their reply was “..due to large volume of enquiries they aim To respond within two weeks”.

Really?

Time for re-nationalisation I’m thinking .

Going forward it’s National Express for me I’m done with trains.

John Betambeau,

Stirling Road,

Winton