Southern rail suggests commuter goes on 100 mile detour to Clapham instead of her normal six minute journey

Southern rail has come under fire for advising a commuter to take a 100-mile round trip in place of a two-mile journey.

A customer service adviser told the passenger to take a train from Aldrington on the East Sussex coast to Brighton via Clapham Junction in south London, a two-hour detour.

Aldrington and Brighton are about two miles apart. The journey time between them is around six minutes.

The female passenger had tweeted Southern to complain about cancelled trains between Aldrington and Brighton and was advised to travel via Clapham Junction in south London.

When she challenged the Twitter team, they replied: “With two cancellations to an hourly service, this is feasible as it would be quicker than waiting.”

A Southern spokesman later admitted the customer service adviser had made a “genuine mistake”.

He told the Times: “He thought the originating station was Portsmouth — as he was also dealing with a Portsmouth enquiry at the time — which would have made his original advice correct.

"He apologised as soon as his mistake had been pointed out.”

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union has announced strike action on Southern services next Tuesday in a row over the changing role of conductors.

Conductors will be rebranded on-board supervisors, while control of the train doors will be transferred to drivers.

The RMT union said this will risk passengers’ safety.

Southern has already been hit by three strikes and has been cancelling trains for weeks, claiming union members were calling in sick and causing staff shortages.

About 120,000 commuters rely on Southern, which is part of Govia Thameslink Railway, the biggest rail franchise in the country, at peak hours to get to and from the capital each weekday.

Yesterday, commuters using the Brighton mainline route into London staged a demonstration over what they describe as a “shambolic” service.