Interesting comments davidl, and I have to say that I am going to make the comments that follow having travelled only twice on SWT since privatisation.

I would say that different TOCs have different priorities when it comes to kitting out their trains. Decent-sized aisles, for example - to have more space up the centre of a train for people to stand in means fewer or smaller seats for people to sit on. One TOC might see this as an advantage, in that more people can fit on their trains, whilst another might see it as acknowledging that it is okay for people to be herded onto trains like cattle, and go for more seats.

More floor-to-ceiling handles might be handy for commuters to cling to on overcrowded peak trains, but can be more difficult for mums with pushchairs or disabled in wheelchairs to negotiate around, and, people could trip over or bash into them.

Its very much a case of one man's meat is another man's poison, in my view.