ANGRY commuters using the Portsmouth to Waterloo line, which includes Haslemere, are stepping up their campaign against cramped "bus like" trains after a specially commissioned report gave them a clean bill of health, last week. Protesters have growing support from pressure groups, councils and East Hampshire MP Michael Mates has also added his weight to the campaign. Hundreds of Haslemere, Petersfield, Liphook and Liss commuters using the Portsmouth to Waterloo line joined the no 450 campaign earlier this year. They claimed the replacement of the new roomier 444s with the cramped 450s which had less leg room, fewer toilets and no tables was "the biggest scandal since the privatisation of the railways." A new Rail Users Group for Haslemere is being formed because commuters have become so disenchanted with the rolling stock. Following the publication of the train Health and Safety Report last week the no450 campaign founder David Habershon dismissed it as a whitewash. "They have given themselves a clean bill of health with a study paid for by them," Mr Habershon told The Herald. He said: "My main concern is that nobody who has been affected by back problems has been contacted by the study, the passengers have not been asked for their views and the problems of back strains and not enough leg room have not been addressed." "In the past the railways were run by the government, then they were at the mercy of the unions, now they are at the mercy of share holders and big companies who are only interested in profit. He said commuters were being driven away from the trains and back into their cars because of inadequate and uncomfortable trains. "They are voting with their feet," said Mr Habershon, "This is just what the government doesn't want, they are trying to encourage people to use public transport more not less." Campaigners want the high density suburban rolling stock banned from the Portsmouth line. They say the trains were designed for urban routes and are "totally unacceptable" for journeys of one hour or longer. Protesters say the new, comfortable 444 Desiro trains were replaced with the older cramped 450s, without consultation or publicity. The only reason given by South West Trains, they claim, was overcrowding on the line made it necessary to provide more seating on trains. Mr Habershon told The Herald the Health and Safety report followed hundreds of formal complaints to SWT from passengers suffering from sciatica and other back related illnesses attributed to the cramped seating. Mr Habershon said the report failed to address the lack of legroom, particularly in the window seats where passengers were forced to place a foot on the heater panel, so twisting the spine and encouraging an unnatural slouch position. East Hampshire MP Michael Mates told The Herald: "Mr Habershon is absolutely right. These trains were designed and put into service for suburban services and by no stretch of the imagination is the Portsmouth to Waterloo line suburban." "South West Trains have changed the specification and changed it in the franchise without any consultation and without the public knowing in order to make more money. "I have written to the government and will continue to press them so that next time there is proper consultation and all parties must know all the facts about the franchise before it is agreed." Managing director of SWT Stewart Palmer, commented on the report: "It establishes that the seating on the 450 is comparable to that provided on other similar train types for similar journey times, and falls within the general best practice guidelines. The report finds no evidence that the 450 seating poses any threat to health. While I sympathise that some passengers may still have some concerns about the comfort afforded by the Class 450 trains compared to the Class 444s, I hope this report puts their minds at rest with regard to "health concerns."
