OFF-PEAK Southern Rail trains direct from Brighton to Victoria are to be scrapped in a “set back for commuters”.

Passengers will now be forced to use the quicker, but more expensive, Gatwick Express service.

This means commuters may have to pay a third more for their direct rail service.

On Trainline.com, an off-peak Southern service will cost £19.80.

Whereas a Gatwick Express train on the route will cost £28.30.

A GTR spokesman said this was an error on trainline.com and the ticket should be purchasable for £25.30.

People wanting to pay off-peak prices will have to get off at Haywards Heath and wait for the Victoria train. 

This is expected to start in May and will last for about two years. 

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said the connection would result in a nine-minute longer journey time.

It added the change was to make space for "essential building upgrade work at Gatwick Airport station" which, it claims, will relieve crowding, improve accessibility and reduce delays for commuters.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, MP for Brighton Kemptown, said: “This will improve the lives of almost no commuter.

“It’s a back-door way of increasing ticket prices.

“If you now want to get to London in off-peak you will have to buy a Gatwick Express ticket.

“These are big changes and they are coming at the same time as an increase in ticket prices.”

The Labour MP added that he has asked to meet the chief executive of the service to discuss concerns.

Thameslink services to London Bridge will stay broadly the same as today.

However some services between Three Bridges and Brighton have been “altered with some new stops”.

There is no change to the number of Gatwick Express services operating during the peak weekday commuting hours.

These are 7.12am to 8.12am, when heading from Brighton to London Victoria.

And 5.29pm to 6.29pm when heading from London Victoria to Brighton.

Outside these hours, Gatwick Express will operate as a half-hourly service to and from Brighton, with “almost all trains” running with twelve carriages instead of eight.

Southern services from Littlehampton via Hove and Hastings via Lewes, to London Victoria will now operate as dedicated services.

This means each route will operate with longer 8-carriage trains.

Govia Thameslink Railway said that to accommodate this, southern off-peak services from London Victoria will no longer run direct to or from Brighton.

A report said: “The splitting and joining of trains at Haywards Heath is a major weakness in the current timetable and cannot be done while platforms are unavailable at Gatwick in the two years between May 2020 and May 2022.

“Off-peak passengers from Brighton to London will need to either use direct Gatwick Express or Thameslink services or change at stations such as East Croydon, Haywards Heath or Preston Park.

"Off-peak passengers buying a Travelcard to use the Tube won't have to pay any more than they do today to travel direct from Brighton to Victoria in the future because these tickets are already valid on Gatwick Express."