The three main train operators in Sussex have been fined more than £20 million for late-running and cancelled trains.

Southern, which operates the main Brighton Line to and from Victoria and services along the Sussex Coast, was hit with a total of £12.1 million last year.

Thameslink, which runs trains through London from Brighton to Bedford was fined £6.473 million in 2004/5.

But there was a reduction in fines for South Eastern Trains, which operates from the capital through Kent and East Sussex to Hastings, from £11.2 million five years ago, when they were operating as Connex South Eastern, to £2.4 million last year.

The huge fines for Southern coincided with the introduction of the new Electrostar services over the past two years.

The service was dogged by delays due to a system that linked sliding doors to a satellite signal not working properly.

Some of the trains had to stop for passengers because the toilets were not emptied and there were problems with the sophisticated computer systems.

The figures released by the Department of Transport are for performance targets to try to get the trains running on time.

If the trains meet the Government's performance targets, the rail companies receive a bonus.

If they fail, they are fined.

Marsid Greenidge, spokesman for Southern, said: "We do not regard it as a fine.

"We see it as a payment for poor performance."

He said some of the responsibility for the late-running or cancelled trains was down to Network Rail, which maintains and operates the track and signalling.

"We pay all the money up front for our public performance.

It is then split between us and Network Rail, depending on whose fault the delay is.

"There were problems with the introduction of the new Electrostar units, which you do get when you introduce new trains as they are gradually bedded in.

"As our performance is improving, we should not have to pay so much next year."

In 1997/8, when the Brighton line was also run by Connex, the fines paid only totalled £117,000 but when the same company ran the lines in Kent and East Sussex in 2000/1, they were fined £11.2 million.

Brighton commuter, Ken Paul, 42, a theatre administrator, who commutes between London and Brighton, said: "These fines do not surprise me. It is probably due to the late-running of trains, rather than cancellations.

"The trick now is if a train is expected to run late, they will cancel it or send it through without stopping at some stations to make sure it arrives at its destination on time."