Two rowing first class passengers were thrown off a commuter train at Hove Station yesterday morning after an early morning row in which hot coffee was thrown about the carriage.
The 6.29am Littlehampton to London Bridge service was stopped at Gatwick Airport station as a result, forcing hundreds of customers to cram themselves onto the next train.
The row broke out at Hove Station at about 7.15am. Witnesses said the argument was over a seat, and that the pair threw coffee over each other.
The train was kept waiting at the station for almost half an hour while police dealt with the incident.
2 clowns scrap (proud?) in 1st class at Hove (LB train) & thousands suffer = it gets cancelled bc it’s so late. @BTPSussex @SouthernRailUK
— Ross Auld (@The_Monties) May 23, 2016
Thanks to the 2 men who threw coffee over each other, causing my train to be canned from Hove to London Bridge #southernfail #coffeegate
— Brad Dyson (@braddyson) May 23, 2016
@SouthernRailUK punch up in 1st class over a seat this morning made my husband late for work. More seats req’d and the men need to grow up!
— Amanda Turner (@_claireellasmum) May 23, 2016
A spokesman for Southern said: “I can confirm that there was a disturbance in one of the First Class accommodation areas on the 06.29 Littlehampton to London Bridge service at Hove yesterday morning.
“The police were called and spoke to the people concerned off the train. We don’t know if the people re-boarded.
“As a result of this incident, the train was 28 minutes late leaving Hove station and to ensure the timetable was not disrupted by a very late train arriving in London, the train was terminated at Gatwick Airport station where passengers boarded alternative London Bridge services to continue their journeys.”
Come on. Someone must have got photos of the idiots. Name and shame!
Train leaves Littlehampton 06.29 and fight breaks out at Hove station at 7.15…..oh come on that would make the train on time for once.
What about the large numbers of trains being cancelled every week by sicky pulling conductors??? Can’t southern start enforcing sick notes for illness to put a stop to this unofficial striking….
Berry Normal, as a frustrated commuter myself I have been concerned about what I had previously suspected to have been unofficial strike action. However, though sickness has been offered as an explanation for staff shortages, I now believe there may be another, more credible, reason i.e. conductors refusing to work ‘off’ days, as is their right. I am led to believe that conductors have taken this decision collectively to highlight Southern’s over dependency on their staff to work off days (one in every ten) when they should be resting. I cannot verify if this is actually the case, but I think it is useful to hear both sides of the story. Notwithstanding the issue of strikes, unofficial or otherwise, commuters losing their minds and abusing each other is not helping anyone. Kind regards.
Mr Wilson You aren’t wrong. There’s currently 4 conductors sick out of 116. 6 are on annual leave.
They do have to provide sick notes if off for more than 7 days, just the same as any other job, suggest you find out the facts before spouting your ill informed garbage.
Just so you aware the guards aren’t sick that’s southerns excuse as there in dispute over letting trains leave with no guard so don’t blame the guards blame the company for threatening jobs of hundreds off people and safety off thousands of passengers
Southern won’t let Conductors work overtime either, hence another reason for cancellations! They want to work but Southern management are acting like ***holes!
As of Sunday out of 220 conductors (guards) based at Brighton 4 were off sick. The staff are no longer overly willing to work rest days at the current time. The line about high sickness is spin from Southern to make the customer dislike them/RMT. Currently southern are deliberately cancelling trains when crews are available as spares to work so it makes passengers despise what’s going on with the unions.
I don’t work for southern. I am certainly no fan of the RMT but Southern are spinning a lot of lies to get maximum profit out of its franchise. It’s an utter farce
There are only four guards off last week due to sickness. There is a guard who posted on Facebook pictures of a train being cancelled due to no guard but he has the diagram to work it but told not to by his manager. There are guards sitting around all over the place, company are cancelling trains blaming the guards but they are all in!! Dirty tricks by the company to deflect blame for the most inept managers ever seen down here.
They’ve also removed all car parking facilities and taken away all their travel facilities from them and their families also a manager who felt sorry for them issued temporary passes and was reported by another member of staff also they have a bullying and an harassment policy they should take a look at it themselves it’s not about money they all had an average loss of £268 each deducted from their wages even though they could have finished their duties and worked trains but were told no
Southern couldn’t run a proverbial p*ss up in a brewery. More spin in their statements to deflect attention away from their inept management and bullying tactics to maximise profits at the expense of the safety of their passengers. I saw a twitter post earlier where they tried to blame a lack of a guard for a cancellation on a Driver Only service until they were corrected.
Anyone interested should check the Southern Guards dispute page where they will happily discuss the true state of play with you. After all, they’re actually striking to keep YOU safer.
Well I’m sorry for spouting ill informed garbage… I only said what I’m being told is the case by the news papers. Maybe the guards and unions should do a better job of informing us the truth. Anyway I talked to a guards and he said he wasn’t allowed to crew 4 trains last week and they were cancelled for no apparent reason. It looked like it was a decision of the train company for no obvious operational reason
Again the evening standard tonight…. Inside page. “Sourthern staff cry off work 1000 times in last month” if this this incorrect someone needs to clarify. Otherwise you being done up like a kipper. Is it true than when the train company say it can’t run a train under these circumstances they get compensation by the government ? If so this is most likely fraud. It’s well known that only about 10% of faire are claimed so the train company will be making 190% on these trains.
Hang on, this story is about idiot members of the public, isn’t it? Not about striking conductors.