Rail bosses have bowed to public pressure by reintroducing a rush-hour train - whilst admitting that services will not dramatically improve for at least two years.

Passengers are celebrating after Southern announced the 6.41am service from Brighton to London Bridge, which was axed when the train company introduced its controversial new timetable in December, will be replaced by a 6.37am train.

The good news came after large numbers of complaints from fed-up commuters and growing pressure from rail group Brighton Line Commuters and The Argus’ Save Our Service campaign.

However, the good news was softened after the train company admitted that apart from a few minor tweaks there is little hope of anything significantly changing for at least two years when new rolling stock will become available.

At a meeting at the Ropetackle Centre in Shoreham on Saturday commuters accused Southern of running a “toxic” service.

Passengers told Ian Rashbrook, Southern's stakeholder relations manager, they are sick of constant delays, overcrowding and a failure to answer their complaints.

Mr Rashbrook said minor alterations had been introduced, including the reinstated service which begins on March 23 and the departures of another 12 services will be re-scheduled to allow faster trains between Sussex and the capital.

During the meeting, which was organised by Tim Loughton MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, it was revealed that Southern received more than 11,000 complaints about the new timetable in the first four weeks after it was introduced, compared to 4,000 for the same period last year.

The Argus also handed Mr Rashbrook a dossier of more than 100 complaints from our newly launched Twitter commuter blogs.

Mr Rashbrook agreed there were problems, stating that only 84% of Southern trains are currently reaching their destination on time compared with 96% in November.

He said: “We are doing all we can to improve reliability and have looked carefully at the effect of train timings.”

He added that some of the delays were caused by bad weather, suicides and trespassing on the track or Network Rail problems but admitted rolling stock on the Gatwick Express had not at first been as reliable as the carriages they had replaced.

He said: “If we had more trains we would run them because we have some eight coach trains which really need to be 12 coaches.

“There are routes where we now run full-length trains where people cannot get on them at all because they are full and have to wait for the second or third train following.

“We are not going to be able to run more trains until the Thameslink programme is completed in three or four years.

“However, there will be more trains available once the new franchise is granted with three tranches of trains coming onto the network in the next few years.”

Mr Loughton said: “What is really frustrating is that the overcrowding is a result of pressures elsewhere and it is not going to be solved properly for at least two years.

“Any improvements that are going to happen are just going to be tinkering around the edges.”

Shelley Atlas, from Brighton Line Commuters, has been campaigning to reinstate the 6.41am service since January.

She said: “It has been a hard slog since January but we had to persevere because people needed the service.

“Southern has listened to our views and made changes.

“Obviously we are still trying to get other trains looked at as there are other issues outstanding. But we are delighted this had been looked at and that it could be squeezed back into the timetable.”

David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion, also pressured Southern to make the change.

He said: “I am certainly pleased Southern has taken this step but it is a pity that before it made the timetable changes it didn’t listen to what its captive users, the commuters, had to say about the services that they needed.”

A Southern spokesman said: “We really do listen to what our passengers are telling us and this shows that where we can do something to improve our passengers’ travelling experience, we will.

“The introduction of the new 6.37am service to London Bridge came about following passengers’ and stakeholder’s requests and lobbying from the Brighton Line Commuters.”

To find out more about Brighton Line Commuters visit www.brightonlinecommuters.co.uk or email commuters@blcmailbox.wanadoo.co.uk.

To add your name to The Argus' campaign visit the Save Our Service page, or befriend us on Twitter or Facebook.