Commuter complains about freezing train carriage and is told to travel with a bottle of water to keep cool

Southeastern said services are likely to be delayed or cancelled until 6pm after a woman was hit at Hither Green station
Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Laura Proto4 February 2016

A chilly commuter who complained about the temperature of his train carriage was left furious after rail bosses suggested he carries a bottle of water to combat the heat.

The 46-year-old, who asked not to be named, said he was left less than happy with Southeastern’s service after the Christmas break when commuters faced weeks of disruption and delay.

He claimed each day over the break there was a different excuse for delays including “the sun, no staff and London Bridge”.

Last week, Southeastern was rated one of the worst train companies in Britain for passenger satisfaction.

But the commuter said the freezing temperatures of the 6.09am service from Tunbridge Wells to Waterloo East was what prompted him to eventually write to the train company.

He said he was left furious when he received a “generic” letter on January 28 with key “buzz words” stating that if he was finding the heat uncomfortable, he should carry a bottle of water.

Letter: The commuter was furious with the 'generic' response

The letter said: “The heating is switched off on all our trains…Equally, these trains have fresh air pumped into the, via a ventilation system to ensure passengers always have fresh air in their carriage.

“This is air from outside the carriage that is not cooled. For these reasons, we are asking passengers to carry bottles of water with them during the heat.”

The commuter told the Standard: “I was disgusted because nobody really read my complaint properly.

“There is no heat on the train, it is freezing cold.

“There is no point of complaining if there is someone just clicking and putting a phrase into a letter without reading it. There is no attention to detail.

“It is unacceptable and shows how much Southeastern cares about individual customers because it is the profit line that it’s interested in, not the customers.”

The commuter, who works as a hotel general manager in central London, said he was unhappy with the response has since written to his MP Greg Clark and Southeastern’s chairman in a bid to improve the company’s customer service.

He added: “It is £126 a week. We want to be able to have a simple journey back and forwards for that amount of money.

“Nobody wants a luxury, just a seat, the heat when it’s cold and the air conditioning when it’s hot.”

A Southeastern spokesman said: "This is clearly human error and we would like to apologise to this passenger for this. We shall contact him to say sorry and to provide a more appropriate response."

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