THE protest by rail passengers at Great Malvern on Friday and again at Ledbury on Monday may yet be a sign of things to come.

Central Trains is at pains to urge passengers not to adopt the tactics of a sit-down protest if things do not work out to their satisfaction. Indeed it is not inconceivable that the police may find themselves dragged into a row.

However, the frustration of passengers who regularly use the train service is easy to understand. What they want is a train to arrive at its designated time - even a little late, they are a patient bunch - and then continue to its appointed destination.

Surely that is not too much to ask of our train operators?

If the Government's long-term goal of reducing traffic congestion is to be achieved then more people are going to have to be persuaded to switch to public transport.

Episodes such as this do nothing to convince the average motorist that the current rail network is reliable enough to take them to work, or to a business meeting, or a hospital appointment or those other parts of life when time really does matter.

The fact that Central Trains did not even have a record of a very public example of passenger dissatisfaction does not really impress us either.

A commitment to customer service must underpin the efforts of train companies to encourage people back on to rail - allied to a general improvement in the reliability of the network.

Until then, passengers will continue to vent their frustration.