UNDER fire Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) was responsible for almost two thirds of all cancelled or very late services across the whole of the country on Friday.

The franchise had 517 cancelled or very late trains – a fifth of all the services the firm tried to run on another dismal day for commuters.

That was compared 311 across the other 25 rail companies.

Platforms across Sussex were packed with delays of at least 50 minutes across the county.

The high-level of cancellations came on the same day that Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, called for the Government to step in and replace the ailing rail firm.

Rail minister Claire Perry said she understood passengers’ frustrations but said improvements to the service would take time.

GTR, which is responsible for Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink and Great Northern services, apologised to commuters on Friday for a “challenging week” and pointed to a death on the line, infrastructure problems and an ongoing dispute with conductor staff for its poor performance.

The dispute with staff continued over the weekend with announcements at Brighton station continuing to blame poor service on high levels of staff sickness.

However staff at the station yesterday tweeted that of 115 conductors based at Brighton, just three were on sick with a further six on rest days and four on annual leave.

On Friday, of the 2,561 GTR services that were run, less than two thirds arrived on time, 38 per cent were late and 517 were cancelled or very late.

By comparison the franchise with the second highest number of cancellations across the country was Northern with 65 cancelled or very late from the 2,222 services it ran.

Ms Lucas MP said on Friday the “relentless failure” of the franchise must be stopped and called for Government officials to take over the running as they had done so successfully for five years on the East Coast Mainline.

Rail Minister Claire Perry said: "I know that passengers are frustrated and aren’t always getting the service they deserve.

“I’ve been clear that Southern must continue to work hard to ensure they provide a reliable service free from disruption.

“The operator is making improvements that will benefit passengers, including training more new drivers, but this will take time.

“New Class 700 trains will also be introduced on the Brighton mainline between Brighton and Bedford, making a real difference to commuters.

“We are closely monitoring progress and remain fully committed to working with Southern to get this railway back to high performance.”