Complaints are nothing new!

In May 2016 a new organisation emerged on the British railway landscape: the Association of British Commuters (ABC). Set up by passengers and campaigners on the Southern network it was initially formed to fight “for the rights of passengers” and to crowd-fund investigations into the railways’ practices, to pursue legal action and effect change. This nascent organisation is now a voice on Twitter and elsewhere for passengers’ interests. Yet this organisation is not alone.

Numerous voluntary groups work for improvements on passengers’ behalf, for instance the Reigate, Redhill and District Rail Users Association and Tonbridge Line Commuters.

The emergence of independent groups fighting to improve services is not, however, a modern phenomenon. Their emergence, as well as complaints by individual travellers, have a long heritage, stretching back to the industry’s early days. Passengers have always tried to gain some measure of influence over the actions of corporate entities that conveyed them, subjected them to cramped and dirty travelling conditions, slowed or delayed their life plans, and did so at an expensive price.

This feature, focusing on the period 1860-1914, will demonstrate that user complaint has been a long-standing and integral part of the relationship between British railways and the public

It is important to note complaints about the railways had occurred before the 1860s. In 1847, in the , ‘B.T.’ argued the Norfolk Railway ‘compelled people to travel at hours, and prices, and by conveyances, never contemplated in their Acts