COMMUTERS are furious over the cancellation of an early morning train service to London after a new timetable for next year was revealed.

Southern Railway has decided to withdraw the 6.37am service from Brighton to London Bridge as part of a scheme to introduce more trains to the network.

Daily commuters working in the capital have complained that there is now no direct service leaving Brighton for London Bridge at the peak time between 6am and 7.32am.

Stephen Wilmot, from Brighton, a journalist working for the Wall Street Journal, said: “I am extremely unhappy to note that the 6.37am Southern service from Brighton to London Bridge has been abruptly but indefinitely cancelled.

“The train was already packed and like many other commuters I relied on this train daily to get me to London Bridge shortly before 8am.

“The 7.32am gets me to my office a full hour later than the slightly faster 6.37am service.”

Southern plans to bring in more class 700 fixed-length trains to the network as part of the modernisation programme in an attempt to bring extra capacity to the railway network in the South East.

The operator is therefore no longer able to join the 6.37am service to the West Coastway service at Haywards Heath, with it instead running as a 12-coach service from Littlehampton via Hove to London Bridge.

From next May, Southern intends to introduce more trains direct from Brighton to London Bridge.

Mr Wilmot has questioned the logic with there currently being no service at “the most important time possible”.

The 34-year-old said: “This change effectively institutionalises the disruption London Bridge commuters experienced during the strike period last autumn, when the 6.37am was also routinely cancelled.

“For that disruption we at least received a month’s refund on our £4,536 annual season tickets.

“I would rather have the train back than any form of compensation.

“Indefinitely cancelling a popular service with no satisfactory alternatives at the last minute is completely unacceptable.”

Peter Lappo, another Brighton-based commuter relying on the cancelled service, said: “Now passengers must change en-route making a tiresome journey even worse with a strong likelihood they will be standing all the way to London.

“This service has been cancelled permanently since Monday without warning or consultation, leaving passengers no time to complain.

“What Brighton needs is a half-hourly direct service rather than a 30 per cent reduction in trains.”

A spokesman for Govia Thameslink Railway, owners of Southern, said: “As part of these changes, we have had to withdraw one service.

“However in the longer term this will allow us to introduce many more peak trains direct from Brighton to London Bridge in May.

“In fact, by December next year we will have tripled today’s number of services to this station and all these 15 trains will be full-length 12-carriage services.”