At the weekend I had to travel to South West London for a change. This meant going to Waterloo and getting on a train operated by South West Trains.

The carriages appeared to be of a very similar design to our own beloved Southern Trains ones from the outside, but inside they'd obviously been thought out with the real world in mind - lower profile seats to give more leg room; decent-sized aisles, fewer bulkheads meaning people would be less likely to loiter by the door; and (most importantly) a load of floor-to-ceiling handles - something which would make the journey a lot more pleasant and a lot more safe for those of us who frequently stand for most of the way to and from London Bridge.

Do any of our regular rail correspondents have any idea why something similar (which also appears on some SouthEastern trains) can't be done by Southern?