by Mary Graham

A commuter is using an online forum to lay bare the misery of his daily train journey from Maidstone to London.

IT worker Gary Williams, who commutes every day from Maidstone West to Waterloo East, has kept a travel diary for the last year at www.southeasternrailway-forum.co.uk

Fed up with recurring problems, Mr Williams began scribbling down his experiences during his train journeys which grew into a travel diary chronicling delays, missed connections and cancellations during 2009.

The most common complaint is of late services from Maidstone West, resulting in missing a connection at Paddock Wood or Tonbridge, causing delays of up to 45 minutes.

He has also written about encounters with unhelpful staff who refused to hold connections when there was a delay and, in many cases, could not explain why delays had happened.

He said: "I absolutely love living in Maidstone, having moved here from east London, but the services are letting this town down.

"I am determined to highlight some of the serious failures that are making the lives of commuters a misery. Southeastern have no competition and I see the website as a way of campaigning for improvements."

The Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Maidstone and the Weald, Peter Carroll, supports the forum. He said: "It will be a focus point for people to set out their experiences - good and bad."

A Southeastern spokesman said the company worked with Network Rail who manage track and signalling to combat delays.

"Southeastern always look to improve the service they provide and we welcome feedback. We work very closely with user groups, local councils, MPs and Passenger Focus to take feedback," the spokesman added.