Passengers on the Brighton line will get a glimpse of the trains that will take rail travel into a new era next month.

It will be the beginning of the end of the slam-door stock, which has been a feature of the Sussex rail network since the first routes in the county in the 1840s.

New trains run by a new rail operator should herald a fresh start for rail travel to and from Sussex.

But passengers need to be convinced. They complain about high fares, delays, standing-room only, cancellations and weekend diversions.

The man responsible for ensuring trains run on time on the Brighton line is David Franks.

As managing director of South Central, he is determined to see things are run as efficiently as possible.

This week the company celebrated six months of being in charge and Mr Franks is the first to admit things need to get better.

The company took over the franchise from operator Connex 18 months early but has still to sign a contract that will enable it to run the main network to and from Sussex for 20 years from May 2003.

Mr Franks commutes daily from Haywards Heath to his office near London's Blackfriars station and sees first-hand the frustrations of his fellow passengers.

He said: "Yes, despite having a first-class season ticket I have had to stand all the way to work and on the way home.

"I know what frustrates commuters about a rail service because I am a commuter myself.

"Passengers want clean, reliable trains and we are beginning to deliver on this.

"In the past four weeks we ran 99.7 per cent of our services, which was one of the best results of all the rail companies, especially when you consider the intensity of our services."

He said since taking over the routes out of Victoria and London Bridge, South Central had operated a steady-as-she-goes strategy.

The company wanted to ensure it was in a position to sign the contract to run the services.

South Central will upgrade services along the Arun line through Horsham and on to Arundel and Littlehampton, ensuring there are two main routes from London to the Sussex coast.

More drivers have been recruited, more trains have been spring-cleaned and the number of on-train ticket staff has increased.

Automatic ticket barriers have been working from the first train in the morning to the last at night, reducing fraudulent travel and crime.

There has been no industrial relations unrest, which marred Connex's record during the years the French company had the franchise.

Mr Franks said: "We have done what we said we would do in the first six months and I would give us ten out of ten for that.

"We have cleaner trains, more reliable trains and we have reduced the number of cancellations.

"We always said there would not be many changes overnight but we hope regular passengers are beginning to notice a difference."

The new trains, Electra Stars, will start running between Seaford and Littlehampton on test trips.

Eventually, they will make up the entire fleet of South Central trains in Sussex.

The Brighton depot will be one of their main bases and the first of the test units will be operating from Brighton so faults can be ironed out before their introduction into service later in the year.

With quicker acceleration, more room for standing, air-conditioning, automatic doors and a CCTV system, the new trains will improve journey times and be more reliable. They should also be easier to maintain.

Some will have just one driver, others will be staffed with inspectors and guards.

The order for the trains was placed by Connex before it lost the contract to run the South Central service at the end of August last year.

The total investment in the new trains is £216 million for 240 new carriages.

The new trains, with a top speed of 100mph, will not be able to run at full speed on the fastest sections of the main lines until the middle of 2004, when Railtrack upgrades the line with the extra power needed.

As South Central is owned by Govia, which is also the holding company for the other main operator to and from Sussex, Thameslink, the companies will be dovetailing their services.

The new summer timetable, to be published in May, will show the first of these changes.

Mr Franks said: "There is no point in having a South Central train leaving Brighton five minutes after a Thameslink train and stopping at the same station.

"Customers should notice a difference and it will mean a better timetable."

The company has no immediate plans to open the Lewes to Uckfield link, which is not in the Strategic Rail Authority's 20-year plan for improvements.

South Central will be ending its through route to Rugby from Gatwick, which will now only go as far as Watford Junction.

Mr Franks said this was due to Railtrack refusing permission to run north of Watford Junction.