THIS week South West Trains hit the headlines when a station announcer asked “only slim people” to sit on the three seater chairs.

The comment was apparently made on a packed commuter service from Basingstoke, when shocked passengers were told: “We are going to be like sardines on this train, so can I ask that only slim people sit on the three seaters. If you are fat then it is simply not going to work.”

Within hours the story had hit the national headlines and South West Trains felt obliged to apologise, brushing off the remark as being made in a “light-hearted” way.

The female guard who made the comment is probably rather embarrassed, but while her poor judgement in choice of words is the focus of this story, it raises a wider issue.

Commuter trains from Basingstoke are unbearably cramped without enough seats – whatever size you might be.

The comment was clearly made in jest, and without much consideration for people’s feelings, but perhaps her poor attempt at humour was a way of trying to deal with a problem her bosses should have resolved.

Surely it’s more embarrassing for the train company that it can’t provide a service for customers to sit down during peak hours?

If you pay full price for a train ticket, then you really should be able to have a seat, and it’s completely unacceptable that the hundreds of people travelling on the trains everyday are still enduring such miserable conditions, while paying for the privilege.

South West Trains was quick to deal with the uproar caused by the comment immediately. It’s a shame it can’t apply the same attitude to the problem of a lack of space on its trains.