Click above to hear what commuters think of the train service
After weeks of misery for Sussex commuters, The Argus is today calling on Southern to make immediate improvements to its services.
There have been countless delays following changes to the company’s timetable in December.
After hearing stories of your delayed journeys, missed meetings and the extra hours added to your commute, The Argus has launched its own campaign to put pressure on Southern to improve its services.
Save Our Service will add to the growing number of voices demanding the train company make journeys better for its passengers.
The company has already agreed that “recent train punctuality has not been as good as it should be” and that it is working to make improvements.
Shelley Atlas, from Brighton Line Commuters, has been working with Southern to try and make some changes, including the possibility of reinstating the much-missed 06.40am service to London Bridge.
She said: “We have looked at what we feel should be done, not just on an individual basis, but for the whole service.
“The rail company is listening to what we are saying and is encouraging people to get in touch with them.”
The group will also meet with MP David Lepper on March 12 to discuss the issues.
Norman Baker MP, the Liberal Democrats spokesman for transport, said Southern is not the only one to blame for the current rail situation.
He said when the company took over the train franchise it was told by the Government to operate too tight a timetable.
He said: “I have called for an entire re-write of the timetable, which has been largely in place since the 1960s.
“It is now totally unfit for purpose.”
As part of the campaign we will be asking passengers to send us their name and a paragraph explaining why they think the service needs to change.
Your reasons could be because you are sick of being late to the office every day or are frustrated at the time you are missing out on with your children.
But however you feel, we want to hear about it. Also please tell us your name.
There are a number of ways you can let us know, including our usual web address at theargus.co.uk, email at news@theargus.co.uk or text 80360, with SUPIC in the message.
We also have a new Facebook page and Twitter, or fill in the form in today's Argus or Argus Lite and post to us at Argus House, Crowhurst Road, Brighton BN1 8AR.
For more information or to leave comments visit the Save Our Service.
We want you to become part of our army of citizen journalists reporting on the rail chaos.
Not only will you be helping highlight the day to day effects of the timetable, but by using Twitter to post instant updates, you can also help other commuters plan their journeys to take into account the delays.
If you're already on Twitter, simply post rail related updates with the hashtag #bricom, which we will then re-tweet, or update through our account at www.twitter.com/brightoncommute. We’re a family newspaper, so please keep them clean.
If not, then follow this simple guide to getting going on Twitter: Sign up for an account at www.twitter.com. All you need is an email address to get started. Once you're in, just post your updates, or tweets, into the top box, and press update. It's as simple as that. Make sure you include #bricom in any commuter-related tweets.
To join the Brighton Commute project, you will either need a web-enabled phone, or to set up any mobile phone so you can text updates directly to Twitter.
To do this, go to the Settings link at the top right, and then select the Devices tab. Enter your mobile phone number as instructed (using +44), wait for Twitter to send you a text, then enter the code it's sent you into the box. Now you can text directly to Twitter, and it shouldn't cost you more than a standard text.
To see what everyone is saying about the Brighton commute, visit www.twitter.com/brightoncommute and click on Follow. All our commuting tweets – including your own - will now appear on your Twitter homepage.
If you're also interested in Brighton news, then follow our news feed here: www.twitter.com/BrightonArgus. You'll also find lots of other people interested in Brighton following us, who you might want to follow yourself.
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