Parsley, In response to your initial post, I agree with Sue and Nick in that you have just been unlucky so far. For I long time I commuted from Essex to Surrey and the trains south of the river are much more reliable than the inept service put on by National "Express" out of Liverpool St. I still use Southern trains every day and find them pretty good most of the time. I wouldn't give up on the trains after a couple of bad runs.