South West Trains denies VJ Day price hike

Veterans, war widows and members of their families travelled to VJ commemorations in central London

A train company has strongly denied claims it increased fares to take advantage of veterans travelling to events in London marking VJ Day.

A summer weekend discount offer on South West Trains (SWT) was unavailable on Saturday.

A veterans' group said the rail firm's stance was an "absolute disgrace".

The firm said weekend promotions were regularly not applied to busy days when they could lead to "serious overcrowding".

Veterans, war widows and members of their families gathered for a memorial event in central London marking the 70th anniversary of VJ Day.

Train passengers on Saturday paid standard charges - up to 60% more than the promotional fare available during other summer weekends.

Tony Hayes, of Veterans' Association UK, said: "They should have had a discount or kept the normal discount. It's an opportunity to make extra cash.

"They've hit the wrong people - these guys are on a pension and couldn't really afford it."

The train firm said its summer promotion had been launched on 13 July, with some days excluded in advance.

A spokesman said: "It would have been irresponsible of us to encourage even more people on to our network on a day when we knew that trains would be extremely busy.

"We believe it makes more sense to encourage people to take advantage of our offers at slightly less busy times when they will be able to enjoy the experience more."

Other large scale events in the region included the England v France rugby international at Twickenham, which attracted 60,000 fans.

The company also insisted it had initiatives to support military personnel and veterans.

BBC South Transport correspondent Paul Clifton said train operators work the same way as airlines and ferry companies.

"They try to sell most seats on most services. When numbers are down, they use cheap offers to fill seats that would otherwise be empty. When numbers are up, as they were this weekend, they don't need the special deals to fill their trains," he said.