No direct trains from Chichester to London '˜indefinitely'

It is part of the amended timetable Southern currently has in place due to ASLEF’s ban on drivers working overtime hours, which has no scheduled end.

Rail users reported their shock at being told by staff at Chichester station there would be no direct trains to London stations ‘indefinitely’.

A spokesman from GTR, which runs Southern, said: ‘I confirm that, apart from the first two trains of the day (5.12am and 5.33am) we have had to withdraw direct services from Chichester to London (Victoria) among amendments to our timetable as a result of ASLEF’s driver overtime ban.’

It means passengers will mostly have to change at Barnham to travel to stations up to London such as Arundel, Pulborough and Horsham, increasing their journey times significantly.

Rail users have now suffered more than a year of disruption over disputes between unions the RMT and ASLEF over changes to the role of the traditional guard, which will see driver-only trains on Southern services.

Since Aslef announced its ban on overtime hours from June, Southern has dropped a number of its services from its timetable with trains also cancelled at short notice.