Commuters have welcomed the return of an early morning train to London - but say the service still needs to be improved.

Rail bosses bowed to public pressure by reintroducing the rush-hour train after a deluge of complaints since the 6.41am service from Brighton to London Bridge, which was axed when train company Southern introduced its controversial new timetable in December.

Lee Manifold, 39, an IT consultant from Brighton, said: "It's a very good idea. I can get up half and hour later now first thing in the morning."

Nathan Luford, a 29-year-old foreign currency trader, who lives in West Hill Road, Brighton, said: “The train wasn't full, to my surprise, and it was quite a pleasant journey, although slightly slow coming out of Brighton,”

Ben Salt, 26, a recruitment worker from Telscombe Cliffs, near Peacehaven, said: "I think it's about time they improved it. For the amount of money you do spend on the service they should at least try and spend time to put an extra service in.

"It's good that they are trying to do something but for the services they've got they should focus on getting those working as well.

"The trains are super compact, if one's cancelled every other trains packed after that."

Jo Nightingale, 29, a student Sonographer from Kemptown, said: "It's good for people who want to get into London earlier and any extra service from Brighton is a good thing.

"The service can be variable, I only go on a Thursday and a Monday normally but there's often problems and delays."

The early London service was reintroduced following 11,000 complaints from fed-up passengers and pressure from rail group Brighton Line Commuters and The Argus’ Save Our Service campaign.

A Southern spokesman said: “Southern is delighted that it has been able to restore the old 6.41am Brighton to London Bridge service in the form of the new 6.37am train.

“The first train left this morning on time and coupled up to the 5.54am service from Littlehampton at Haywards Heath, before continuing to London Bridge.

“We thought very carefully about whether it was possible to introduce this service after we received much feedback from our passengers and stakeholders and particularly from the Brighton Main Line Commuters Association. Once it was clear that this was a possibility, we put the proposal out for consultation in February, before taking the decision to introduce it.”

To find out more about Brighton Line Commuters, visit www.brightonlinecommuters.co. uk or email commuters@blcmailbox.wanadoo.co.uk.

● To add your name to The Argus’ Save Our Service campaign visit www.theargus.co.uk/saveourservice or support us by becoming a commuting reporter via our Twitter account or join our Facebook group.