02/01/2017 South East Today

Passengers have reacted angrily to today's rail fare rise of over

two per cent on average with calls for a fare freeze for Southern

commuters who've suffered months of disruption due to strike action.

A season ticket from Dover Priory to London will cost around ?100

more than last year, passengers from Sevenoaks will pay

around ?60 more and Brighton commuters who've faced months

of delays and cancellations will see their season tickets rise

New year, new rail ticket price rises.

The increase comes on the third day of an RMT strike.

Travellers in East Grinstead that they are not happy about paying

In view, of the problems with Southern rail in

the last little while, I'm

I think the price of rail fares now is

extortionate and I think that it would be a lot easier to tolerate if

the trains actually ran consistently on time

and from work, and London in the way we should be able to.

I think they've got a bit of a nerve putting

The annual increase in fares is being introduced because

the Government wants passengers to fund a larger

I feel acutely sorry for the Southern commuters who have

experienced the problems over the past few months,

but what we did was say to these people, in recognition

of the trouble you been through, we are going to give our regular

customers on that route a month's free travel.

In addition to the season ticket holders' compensation

rebate, Southern says because services have

not been good enough, it's also going to freeze its

cheapest advanced fare tickets for the ninth year in a row.

But the dispute over the role conducters on

The ten month strike has caused misery to

It's even affecting commuters on the south-eastern line in Kent.

There's some trains in particular, like the

6:31 from Sevenoaks, which, on a Friday, you cannot get

Another strike is due to begin on January the 9th.

It may be a new year, but the old problems have

Ian, what sort of service can commuters expect when they return

hell, John. Hell, I would say. The strike will end at midnight tonight

but the union has an overtime ban which means there will be a reduced

service from hair. There is no Gatwick Express at all to morrow.

More details on the website. -- here. The disruption has been caused

by trains being in the wrong place and if you have to travel during

peak time, you're being told not to. It'll be very difficult very much

indeed. And just a reminder that BBC

South East Today is hosting a special Question Time style debate

about the ongoing crisis on Southern rail services

on Sunday the 8th of January. If you live or work in the south

east and want to be in the audience, send an email

to [email protected] with your details and how

you've been affected. Three men and two women arrested

on suspicion of murder after a man People living in north Kent

and Medway are being warned not to visit accident and emergency

departments unless High levels of demand means

there are not enough Medway Clinical Commissioning group

says they are prioritising people with serious

or life-threatening injuries. A Kent commuter has launched

a petition calling on the Government to compensate drivers if they get

held up at the Dartford Crossing. Anand Surve says congestion

there is getting worse. Rush hour at the Dartford

crossing and queues, like this one, are a familiar sites

to those who use it regularly. People like Annan, who commutes

from North Kent to Essex. For him, what's more frustrating

than sitting in traffic is the fact he has to

pay for the pleasure. A situation he has decided

to do something about. The delays are unacceptable

and getting worse. Therefore I have launched

this petition calling Annan's petition is calling

on Highways England to compensate drivers who get stuck in traffic

and if he manages to get 100,000 signatures, then the idea will be

debated in Parliament. One motoring organisation has

concerns about the proposal. You can never really be

completely sure who is to It could be on a Highways England

managed stretch of road or it could be

on the crossing itself, or it could just be

that So it's very difficult to be

able to pin the blame. In practice, it might be a little

bit more difficult to operate. It shouldn't take me

more than 30 minutes, but I've spent three or three

and a half hours doing the I'm meant to pick up my daughter

and if I'm stuck in traffic, there's no way I can

communicate with the daycare that I don't know what I'm

picking her up. If not, at least 50%

of the money should be refunded. In a statement,

HighwaysEngland says the charge The charge is successfully

speeding up journeys at the last crossing

after being introduced to relieve severe

congestion and is a medium-term Meanwhile, they are continuing

to work with partners to tackle congestion,

especially on the approaches For now, Annan's commute continues

and whether it changes in the future, well, that, he hopes,

will depend on the success of And our correspondent Mark Norman

is live now at the crossing. Mark, is this petition likely

to make any difference? I think it's going to struggle,

John. There is an average closure here once every 15 days and with one

million people using it every year, when it goes wrong, it goes horribly

wrong. They will need 100,000 signatures and then they have to

argue about who is the blame and who should pay. It sound like a great

idea but it will struggle. Thank you.

Onto football, and good results for some of our league sides.

In the Championship, Brighton top the table after a 2-1

They're now two points clear of previous leaders Newcastle.

In League One, a good start to the new year for Charlton

with a 4-1 victory at home to Bristol Rovers but defeat

for Gillingham as they hosted Oxford who won 1-0.

In League Two, a home win for Crawley with a 2-0

Thank you. It's been a beautiful winter 's day and the rest of the

league is looking mainly drive. Bright spell around. Jimmy by day

and by night. We were sent this picture by one of our weather

watchers in Margate, picking up on that sunshine. With the clear skies,

cabbages falling away pretty sharply tonight. A widespread fraud and some

missed the returns. And is the return to work tomorrow. Minus two

Celsius. All start to the day. Miss and fog clearing quite quickly. Some

rights built around but it will be quite cloudy throughout the

afternoon. Ambridge is recovering to roundabout 4-5 C. Diageo dry weather

throughout the week but it will be pretty chilly as you go through the

day and then again by night. Thank you. Holidays either. Really back at

10:15pm with an update. From the anti-rest of the Demon, good

evening. Good evening. It has been turning

colder and clearer and our weather watchers have been capturing the

sunshine. Here is the scene in Derbyshire and where we have had the

clear skies by day, we are in for a cold night tonight. Temperatures

already plummeting, particularly towards the south with some icy

stretches across parts of central and southern England, and into

Wales. For the north-west, not as cold, as we have the cloud building.

But to the south we could see temperatures down to minus four or

five first thing Tuesday morning. If you have