RAIL misery hit an all-time high this week, when commuters subjected to a reduced timetable due to major Waterloo upgrade, were advised by South West Trains (SWT) to avoid the London terminal altogether on Tuesday and Wednesday, following a partial derailment.

To compound the suffering, it was announced that rail fares will rise by 3.6 per cent from January in line with inflation, this week, adding £143 to the cost of a standard annual season ticket from Haslemere to Waterloo.

The permitted increase, described by passenger groups as “a kick in the teeth”, will be the highest since January 2013 and it will affect ‘anytime‘ and some off-peak fares, as well as season tickets in England and Wales.

It was the worst possible exit for SWT owner Stagecoach, which steps down as regional rail operator after 21 years this Sunday (August 20), when FirstGroup in partnership with Hong Kong’s MTR take over the franchise.

But rail unions have warned the advent of FirstGroup and MTR, on track to operate the network for the next seven years, could create new problems because Andy Mellors, the boss of the new franchise, has refused to commit to protecting the role of train guards.

Sunday’s takeover of South Western rail services will provide 90 new trains with doors that can be operated by the driver – and it was the introduction of driver-only operated trains on Southern Rail services that led to 16 months of industrial action by the RMT.

RMT, which was due to meet Mr Mellors today (Thursday), said it would “remind” FirstGroup there was a “long-standing agreement in place” with previous owners Stagecoach not to extend the role of the driver or threaten the roles of the guards.

Mr Mellors confirmed its fleet of new trains would “retain a second person” on board, but refused to say what that person’s role would be.

“It’s far too early to say exactly how we will be operating those trains,” he said.

“As new trains they can be operated in a variety of ways.”

FirstGroup and MTR are committed to recruiting additional staff for the additional trains that will run in and out of Waterloo by December 2020.

The consortium will invest £1.2 billion in the network over seven years.

Haslemere Rail User Group (HRUG) is hopeful any strike action would not apply to the Portsmouth to Waterloo line “for the time being”.

HRUG secretary Martin Odell said: “We are aware of the threat of RMT strikes following the refusal by Andy Mellors to commit to protecting the role of train guards, where trains are designed for driver-only operation (DOO).

“The trains in question are the 90 Aventra trains which will operate on the Reading, Windsor and London Suburban routes out of London Waterloo, so for the time being it will not be an issue for Waterloo-Haslemere-Portsmouth travellers.

“HRUG in principle has no objection to DOO when it is limited to the driver opening and closing the doors. But we think there remain security risks for the train’s passengers without another member of staff present, be they called guards, conductors or train managers.

“In this connection Andy Mellors has confirmed at least the fleet of new trains would retain a second person on board, which we welcome.

“HRUG have written to the mobilisation team for the new franchise to congratulate them on winning the franchise, wishing them success for the future from August 20, and offering HRUG’s services as a contact group and source of information, as appropriate.

“We have asked when will the promised four trains per hour with dedicated fast rolling stock actually appear on our line. We are aware of the refurbishment of the Wessex electrics by December 2018, but have asked that all our white Class 444s be reinstated now.

“As for the outgoing SWT, what can we say that is positive about a train operating company that downgraded the Portsmouth line with longer rail journeys, that introduced cramped abominable blue Class 450 rolling stock, and that made every train stop at Woking?”