Govia promised a better service when the company took over South Central and added it to Thameslink trains.

Passengers will have their first real test of whether that is true when the summer timetable comes into force next month.

They will be disappointed if they were expecting more trains. In the rush hour, the 8.18am from Brighton to Victoria is being axed and several other services are being replaced.

The Brighton to Rugby service, introduced by previous rail company Connex, is also being reduced, with trains going only as far as Watford.

Operators say the changes will allow them to provide a more reliable and regular service on the busy main line from Brighton to London.

If it does, commuters will be prepared to put up with the changes because reliability is one of their prime concerns.

But if they get the mixture as before, passengers will begin to think Govia is no better than the reviled Connex or even British Rail before that.

During the last decade, successive train operators have made many promises for improving the Brighton line.

Little has happened for the better and travellers will judge the new operators by their results rather than their rhetoric.