Returning from a weekend trip to London and the anarchist bookfair my train was delayed by over an hour. I think that the causes can be traced to profit and bureaucracy, but the official reasons involved equipment failure.

I asked a guard to make an announcement that everyone on the train would be owed a partial refund due to the excessive delay of the journey. He argued that there would not be enough complaint forms for passengers to fill then and that announcement would cause 'panic'. I said that I thought it would more important for everyone to have the same access to information. He said he would check with the customer relations manager.

After waiting 15 minutes and building up a bit of courage, I decided to make the announcement myself. My legs were shaking as I walked all the way to the furthest carriage and prepared myself to address my fellow passengers. I can feel the adrenaline coming on just thinking about it. Anyone who says resistance is easy is fooling themselves.

In each carriage I made roughly the following announcement:

Excuse me. I would like to make an announcement. Due to the excessive delay on our journey, all of us are due a refund. However, the management on the train have refused to make an announcement about this. They claim it is because they do not have enough consent forms. I suspect it is because if we all complained it would cut into the corporation's profits. As someone who believes that the train should be run for people and not for profit, I suggest that each of us should try to get any money back that we can. Thank you.

I was convinced that I was going to get in trouble either with rail staff or passengers. I was happily surprised to receive spontaneous applause and a number of thank you's and comments from passengers. One staff member made a vague attempt to encourage me to stop by letting me know that we would be back in Edinburgh in only 15 minutes. I thanked them and carried on chatting with the passengers in the dining carriage. I also spoke with a few members of staff, encouraging them to find ways to organise for better conditions outside of the traditional union structure. I did not receive an immediately positive response, but I may have planted some seeds.

My final act of resistance was add written comments to the free train magazine about doing between public transport, hierarchy, capitalism and the environment. Hopefully they will be thought-provoking for future readers, although I'm not sure who bothers to read these things.

For a more organised campaign with regard to these issues, check out Rising Tide's 90% for 90% , a call for a 90% cut in UK public transport fares, to make public transport affordable, to start making changes that bring the 90% cut in greenhouse gases needed to halt climate change.