New timetable hailed a success by train firm

South West Trains today declared their controversial new timetable "a success".

The claim comes as commuters continue to complain that their journeys are taking longer and that they have been forced to leave home half an hour earlier to reach London at the usual time.

South West Trains (SWT), one of the "big three" commuter operators which serves Waterloo, introduced the new timetables yesterday. It is the biggest shake-up of services for 40 years.

As first-day performance figures were being calculated, SWT said that by "late yesterday afternoon" they were just over 90 per cent - which would mean a dramatic improvement in timekeeping. Latest published statistics show that Stagecoach-owned SWT has one of the worst timekeeping records of all the operators serving London, with only 78.2 per cent of services on time.

An SWT spokeswoman said; " Generally, we did well yesterday. This was despite some interruptions to service due to infrastructure breakdowns for which we are not responsible."

These included a problem with the track at Basingstoke which meant speed limits being imposed. There were further delays when a lorry hit a rail bridge in the same area. SWT carries-more than 400,000 passengers a day, with 80,000 of those travelling during the morning peak. Tim Nicholson, chairman of the watchdog Rail Passengers Council for Southern England, described the company's performance over recent months as "poor", although he said the supply of new trains had improved.

The scene at Waterloo last night told a different story.

An SWT employee at the customer information stand thumbed furiously through the thick book of train timetables.

After a few minutes, with the queue growing increasingly long and impatient, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I just can't find it. I'm not sure the service you're looking for is in here," he said.

The passenger, like many others, had been asking for the times of his return train now that his regular service had been consigned to history. All around him stood bemused commuters studying the departure boards and trying to make sense of a new timetable with nearly 1,700 daily services.

But commuters fear the problems will last longer than the few days it will take to adapt their routines. Many services have been changed from fast trains to slower services, lengthening journey times. Other services now stop less frequently at smaller stations. SWT promises the changes will make things better, but many passengers remain to be convinced.

Sarah Reed, 34, a window dresser in the West End, boarded her train from Portsmouth to London for its usual one and a half hour journey, only to find it will now take 10 minutes longer because of new stops.

But not everyone was complaining.

Many of those travelling out of Waterloo said they had barely been effected and were more concerned about the reliability of their train. Others even welcomed aspects of the new timetable.

Actress Deborah Bundy said a new late night service had been added to the Farncombe service, making her journey home easier. "I've no complaints about that."