There have been some ridiculous excuses for cancelling services in the past, but trains being too long has to be up there with the finest.

Chiltern Railways have extended a service to London by an extra carriage; great for easing overcrowding, but less helpful to the commuters stuck at Saunderton station because their platform is too short.

If Chiltern employed guards, this could easily be solved by only opening doors on six of the carriages, thereby avoiding any accidents. However, they don’t and so the only solution developed so far has been to cancel the service.

This will help the overcrowding issue even more, although denying passengers services is perhaps not the best way to deal with this challenge.

Of course it is only a small station, and in terms of the greater good there are probably more benefits associated with this decision than to cater to these commuters to the detriment of other passengers.

But isn’t the railway meant to be accessible to all?