Anger over TV ads on trains

Passengers on one of London's busiest commuter routes face being forced to watch television commercials with no control of the sound.

TV sets are to be installed within the next two months on trains run by c2c, which operates services into Fenchurch Street. They will be mounted at the ends of carriages with speakers in the seats and show rolling news programmes with regular commercial breaks.

But passenger watchdogs and commuters who already endure the unwanted noise of mobile phones and personal stereos, have voiced anger at the plans.

Pauline Cridland of the Thurrock Rail Users' Group said: "This will vandalise passengers' own time to read, doze, study or think."

Another group of commuters on the 7.13am from Thorpe Bay were so angry they decided to stage a sit-in in a lavatory, where the TVs will be out of earshot. However, the first cubicle they tried was out of order. After finding one that was working, the three women locked themselves inside for 10 minutes.

The trio included Annelies Dodds, the prospective Labour candidate for Billericay, who said: "We ended up with three of us in one toilet. Because they are designed for wheelchairs they are quite big."

But a c2c spokesman dismissed the protests. He said: "A portion of each carriage will be without screens and we will extend the ban to mobile phones and personal stereos."

Southern Railway, which operates some of the busiest commuter routes in Britain including the Brighton line into Victoria, is also planning to install televisions later this year.

A spokesman for owners Govia, which also runs Thameslink, said: "We had an experiment on Thameslink last year which went well. Southern has signed a contract for the TVs." There are, however, no plans as yet to install them on Thameslink.

Other operators where televisions may be installed include Silverlink, WAGN and One, which covers the East Anglia region. The company behind the television scheme, 360 Onboard, will pay the train companies a fee with their profits coming from advertisements.

Brian Cooke, chairman of the London Transport Users' Committee, urged caution. He said: "I am concerned if passengers will not be able to turn the sound off. Some people are going to find this very intrusive. Clearly, there will need to be television-free carriages."

Anthony Smith, national director of the Rail Passengers' Council, said: "We believe that a significant number of passengers find the whole idea deeply irritating. I don't think people want this sort of interruption."