Southern rail strikes: Commuters' tales of 'hell'

Southern trains have been disrupted for months amid a long-running dispute over the role of conductors

Things are set to get a whole lot worse for commuters on trains operated by Southern. The dispute between the rail operator and the RMT union over the role of conductors has now spread, as Aslef drivers also voted to strike in a dispute over driver-only operated trains.

Tuesday marks the start of another three-day strike by the RMT in what is the longest running strike since the railways were privatised in 1996.

The first strike began back in April. But how are commuters bearing up under the stress and strain?

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Eight strike questions answered

'Quit my job'

Alistair Cansdale is a 42-year-old digital marketer who commuted from Haywards Heath in West Sussex to London Victoria.

"In the end I couldn't take it any longer. Last week I took a big jump and decided to give up my highly paid job in London - with nothing to go to.

"I was working for a difficult management team who were constantly checking up on people's hours. I spent the whole afternoon every day thinking - what's the earliest I can leave?"

Mr Cansdale said his usual 45-minute journey could take up to three hours.

"It was awful," he said, "and all for £5,000 a year" - the price of his annual season ticket.

"Quitting was a huge relief but it's also been unnerving. It's a relief that I don't have to do the daily commute any more."

'Soul-destroying'

Natalie Davies is a 45-year-old personal assistant living in Kent and working in the City.

"I had to move to Edenbridge three years ago to look after my mother and to be honest the problems have not just been throughout this year - the Uckfield line has always been bad - it's just escalated to supremely diabolical this year," she said.

She said her boss has been "very sympathetic" but she "cannot be seen to be favouring me".

"The number of times I have had to pay £80-£100 for a cab home as we only get one train home an hour," she added.

"It's soul-destroying and completely ruining my life at the moment as I have to put everything on hold."

Eight-months pregnant

Hannah Blowey, 27, from Eridge in East Sussex, said: "I'm almost eight months pregnant. I'm going on maternity leave earlier than I would have done if the service home was more reliable.

"It's always a crush getting on the train - and even though I'm heavily pregnant I don't always get a seat," she said.

"When I mentioned to the district nurse that I was commuting to London on the Uckfield line she immediately asked if I wanted to be signed off.

"You can't go on maternity leave three months early - you have to carry on."

'Don't see my daughter'

Teresa Baldock commutes from Crowborough in East Sussex to London Bridge where she works as a publishing sales manager.

She says she's missing out on seeing her baby daughter because of cancelled trains on her journeys home from work.

"It's absolutely horrendous," she said.

"I've been late home every night for the past three weeks. My husband has been coming out with our baby daughter in the car at night to pick me up from different stations when the trains have been cancelled.

"I only have half an hour to see my 14-month-old baby on the four days a week I work in London - but if I'm late I don't see her at all."

She said her boss has allowed her to work from home one day a week.

"I was having a meltdown," she said.

"Most days by the time I get to work I just want to curl up under my desk and go to sleep, and from 4pm onwards I'm planning my journey home."

'Home in time?'

Lorna Cobbett, 37, travels from Horsham in West Sussex to London Victoria.

"My commute is meant to take 55 minutes - but on a bad day it can take two hours.

"I have triplets, one of them seriously disabled with a life-limiting condition," she said.

"My real fear is that I won't be able to get back if my daughter ends up in hospital. Thankfully, the last time we had to call an ambulance for her, earlier this month, I was working from home.

"If I'm in London, how do I know I'm going to be able to get to her as quickly as I need to? It makes me really angry."

We're 'cannon fodder'

Bradley Rees, a 43-year-old software developer, says the service between Durrington in West Sussex and London Victoria is "hell - the conditions do get really dangerous".

"Commuters are cannon fodder caught in the middle of the dispute," he says.

He has designed a free app - Southern Fail - to help people understand the human impact of what's been happening, he said.

"People have had enough - they're quitting their jobs, they don't see their families - it's taken a real emotional and physical toll."