A train service that takes commuters from Brighton to the capital each morning was cancelled for the second day running.

Southern Railway cancelled the 7.29am Brighton to London Victoria service on Monday, when commuters returned to work after the festive break, and again for a second time today.

Today's fault was blamed on a “faulty interlocking door” – a system Southern said was a safety feature that requires the doors of the train to be closed and locked before a train can depart.

A Southern spokesman said: “If full interlocking isn’t achieved, the train cannot depart.”

The cancellation followed a miserable return to commuting for thousands of passengers on Monday, when signalling problems left crowds of people stranded at London Bridge. When they did eventually get trains there was severe overcrowding.

Rail passengers have also had their fares hiked by 2.5% since January 2 after a government announcement last month.

Anna Roberts, 30, of Brighton, commutes daily from Brighton to Victoria.

Describing Southern’s service as “substandard", she said: "Throughout much of December Southern Rail ran a Saturday service, irrespective of whether it was the weekend.

“For much of the autumn weekend services were severely disrupted and rail replacement buses ran from Brighton to Three Bridges.

"On Monday I arrived at the station to find the train I needed to catch cancelled – and again the next day.

“I was advised to travel on the London Bridge service, however, this was chaos. Southern Rail admitted even their Twitter feed was unable to cope with the strain of traffic - let alone their rail network.”

Gareth Paulson, 40, from Brighton, also commutes to London every day.

He said: “The two cancellations of the 7.29am train so far this week caps off a run of poor performance.

“For most of the last few months we have had reduced services, sometimes with absolutely no warnings come a Monday morning.

“At weekends more buses than I can even remember from Three Bridges to Brighton.

“Funnily enough I am not expecting them to pay me that back out of my ticket price.”

A spokesman from Southern Rail said: “We understand passengers’ frustration and apologise for the cancellation. The fault with the interlocking door is being attended to.”