Some say “it’s better to have no twitter account at all than an inactive one“, but I’m not sure that Southern feel that way, as two twitter accounts with their name on are not promoting the rail company in very good light.

Firstly, @southerntrains is mostly harmless narrating the life of a commuter in south London, with tweets such as

“Cancellations at charing x so missed my connection at London bridge again“

and

“London overground have put one bench back at Norwood, where there was 4. So am still standing up.”

Then there’s @southern_trains, which is far more motivated and often hilarious. As well as posting it’s own reviews on the trains service

“Just emailed Man Booker Prize awards people asking how I could submit our timetable for consideration for their fiction award.#seriously“

it mainly focuses on retweeting the cream of other people’s comments, some of whom aren’t aware that it isn’t an official account:

“Once again train cancelled due to the doors not opening at Preston Park. Service definitely worth £3500/year. Bloody #southerntrains“

and

“Exceptional service, @Southern_Trains. You are on time. It is an exception.“

There are many many more…

If you use Southern for your commute, you may like to follow these accounts to at least share your frustrations…