Passengers angry at new timetable

Furious rail passengers today complained that changes to the train timetable had brought chaos to their daily journeys.

They arrived at their stations this morning to find trains had been cancelled and the prospect of longer journeys in overcrowded carriages.

Many said the changes meant they would now have to get up much earlier to ensure they are not late for work.

Amanda Cass, 37, a human resources director from West Byfleet, said: "It is annoying because all my trains are later than before.

"There are no fast trains on this route any more. It is going to add another hour and a half to my journey every day.

"This morning I am already half an hour late and it's probably going to be longer to go home. I am going to have to get up earlier but my days are long enough as it is. I get up at 6.30am every day and finish work at 6.30pm. The only thing I can rely on is my bike which I use to get to West Byfleet station in the morning."

James Anton, 35, a public relations executive who came in from Walton-on-Thames said: "It was bloody murder. They cancelled one train this morning and then I got the later train which is a slow train. I am now 40 minutes late for work. My boss is tired of the same excuse that it is the trains but this time he will read it in the paper."

Mark Desborough, a trainee manager for a tour operator who was travelling into the city from from Surbiton, said: "It was absolutely packed this morning. They cancelled two trains and everybody was on my train.

"It was also slower than normal because

they've cancelled the fast train and it stops at more stations. It's normally bad but this morning it was absolutely horrendous."

However one passenger, Arabella Pyke, 27, who works in the City for BP, said she saw some improvements in the service today. "This morning was slightly better than usual. It could be because of the confusion with the timetable. May be people didn't know the new times of the trains," she said.

"There were less people on mine this morning than is usual and I got a seat. And it was only three minutes late."