Rush-hour passengers on a trouble-hit commuter rail route between London and Sussex have faced more travel misery with delays and cancellations due to a signalling problem.

Three days ago, the Southern train company introduced a new timetable in an effort to improve services, particularly between London and Brighton.

But a signal problem at Haywards Heath led to hold-ups of up to one hour between London and the Sussex coast.

A number of trains were cancelled, with passengers packing into the trains that were still running. Many passengers had to stand and Southern apologised for the overcrowding.

Among the axed services was the 7.29am Brighton to London Victoria which failed to arrive on time throughout 2014.

Commuters have taken to Twitter to vent their anger and one, Kevin, tweeted: "Oh, what a surprise, another day in the life of a public transport user."

Camilla Chapman tweeted: "Another day, another morning of delays - @SouthernRailUK @TLRailUK when will you provide a half decent service to match your obscene prices?"

Another, Thomas Withers, said: "Here we go again. Two good days in a row, overdue another omnishambles."

And Mark Davies tweeted: "What a joke, disruption three days running. Why don't you guys just leave the timetables alone? Oh well meet the manager tomorrow."

Later it was revealed that the problem at Haywards Heath was a broken rail.

Some trains were terminating at Gatwick, Three Bridges and Haywards Heath, while it was hoped that buses could be laid on to replace trains.

Some of those caught up in the latest disruption were also unlucky enough to be travelling from Sussex to London at the end of last month when power supply problems near Clapham Junction station in south London led to chaos.

One train, the 6.55am from Brighton which should have reached Victoria at 8.15am, was stationary for hours and was eventually towed into Streatham in south London just before 1pm.

Network Rail said: "We apologise to passengers whose journeys have been delayed this morning as a result of a track circuit defect just outside the Haywards Heath area.

"Trains are being cautioned through the affected area at 20mph and our engineers will be on site to rectify the problem once the morning peak is over."