A new timetable on the Brighton to London line has affected many people’s daily commute. Train company Southern said the extension of the Gatwick Express service to Brighton would improve journeys for most passengers. But The Argus has been contacted by many commuters who say journeys have been made more difficult.

Reporter EMILY-ANN ELLIOTT joined the morning commute to London Victoria.

Commuters waiting for Monday’s 7.15am train from Brighton to Victoria stood anxiously on the platform to see whether the service would be cancelled following a reported brake problem.

Luckily the train was given the all-clear and left the station just seven minutes late.

All passengers boarding the train managed to find a seat and a comfortable journey began.

But by the time the train stopped at Gatwick, the number of passengers almost doubled after commuters from an earlier service which had broken down crammed into carriages. Most spent the remainder of the journey standing.

It is all too frequent incidents like this which leave commuters, who pay almost £3,300 for an annual season ticket from Brighton to Victoria, feeling so frustrated.

Rob Burlace, from Brighton, said: “It is marvellous when it works.

“But the 6.56am broke down this morning and we had to get off at Gatwick. It was cancelled twice last week.”

Graham Ward, who lives in Rottingdean, works for the Orient Express.

Because of a reduction in services to other London stations he now travels to Victoria, before going to Battersea Park.

He said: “It is an absolute mess. Nothing seems to run on time.

“All I can say is bring back British Rail. That was pretty bad, but privatisation has been awful.

“I had many years of experience working for the railway.

“Their management was pretty appalling.

“I can’t see it getting better any time soon because they won’t get people running the railways who know what they are doing.”

The new Gatwick Express service to Victoria was supposed to reduce overcrowding.

And it seems that when the service works many passengers are happy.

Michelle Chapman, from Haywards Heath, is a PA for a headhunting company.

She has commuted to Victoria from Haywards Heath since October and previously commuted to London from Brighton.

She said: “I like the changes. You can normally get a seat and it’s a little bit quicker. It feels more direct and has improved my commute. There are more trains and there is more choice.”

The majority of the unhappy commuters are those travelling to East Croydon and Clapham Junction.

Peak-time journeys to these destinations have been cut and passengers now have to leave from Hove or change at Haywards Heath.

Commuters travelling to London Bridge also only have a choice of two direct services, at 6.01am or 7.33am.

Goretti Considine, who lives in the Fiveways area of Brighton, and is a librarian at the City Business Library used to take a London Bridge service.

She said: “Now if I catch the 6am train I would arrive at work much earlier than I need to so I go to Victoria and get the Tube.

“It is adding a good half-hour each way on to my journey. It used to be a three-hour commute door to door, but now it’s four hours.”

Jeff Wade, who lives in Preston Park, Brighton, said he is considering relocating as the changes are so inconvenient.

He said: “I used to get the 7.20am service at Preston Park and get off at East Croydon.

“Now I either have to go to Haywards Heath and wait for the connecting train, where I will be lucky to get a seat, or go to Victoria and do the Tube. Previously it was a breeze.

“It’s frustrating the change of timetable seems to have been done with very little consultation or outcome for passengers.

“It’s already difficult enough commuting without them changing and adding time to people’s journeys.”

Tim Moore, from Crawley, has been using the Gatwick Express service for about seven years.

He said the changes have made trains busier by the time they reach his stop.

He said: “They weren’t particularly busy and you were always guaranteed a seat.

“Now they are not running on time and are overcrowded. I’m thinking of using the Thameslink service instead now.”

One commuter who did not want to be named said: “Of the trains I have been on since the timetable change, not one has arrived in Victoria or Brighton on time.

“It is just annoying when they are ten minutes late or 20 minutes late.

“Before it was just two or five minutes late, which you can put up with.

“But if you have a 9am meeting, that can have a significant impact on your work.”

Another commuter from Preston Park said: “When they work they are good.

“But they need to be reliable. If you are getting a train at 7am you need to be at your destination at a certain time.

“The new changes are not really faster but they are more comfortable and better for people getting on after Preston Park, who would never have got a seat.

“Since the changes there have been more cancellations though.”

A spokesman for Southern Trains said: “We are aware that we are not delivering the service our passengers expect and deserve on the Brighton Main Line on weekday mornings.

“The trains we are using for the extended Gatwick Express services have suffered some initial technical problems which we have identified and are working hard to resolve.

“We’ve also been unlucky with some infrastructure problems such as points and signal failures which are not within our control. All of this has led to under-performance.

“These problems have led to some cancellations and delays and in some cases passengers are finding that their trains are more crowded than they should be.

“We would like to apologise to those passengers who have had to endure disrupted journeys in the last week or so and can assure them we are doing everything we can to ensure the service provided in the future will be a more reliable one.”

Representatives from Southern are due to meet members of Brighton Line Commuters on January 21 to discuss the changes.

Our reporter's own experience

I arrived at Brighton station at 7am on Monday and my first experience of commuting into London did not get off to a good start.

I spent about ten minutes waiting on the platform to find out whether the 7.15am train I had been planning to take to Victoria was actually going to run.

The general lack of information seemed to add to the frustration felt by many.

When we were eventually able to board (having first been told there had been a problem with the train’s brakes) I easily managed to find a seat, along with my fellow passengers.

However, the breakdown of an earlier train at Gatwick meant the train quickly filled up with almost double the original number of passengers, as more commuters attempted to continue the remainder of their journey.

Passengers had to cram into the carriages and some even resorted to sitting on the floor. The look on most people’s faces said it all and those I spoke to were not impressed.

The general feeling from commuters seemed to be that when the service to Victoria does work, it works well. But when it doesn’t, which according to passengers is more often than not, commuting from Brighton becomes a nightmare.