Govia Thameslink and Network Rail have released a joint statement this morning following nearly two weeks of chaos on the rail network.

After anew timetable was brought in, customers have faced delays all over the country, particularly on the Thameslink line between London and Bedford, which stops in Barnet, Borehamwood, Radlett, and St Albans.

Govia Thameslink says it is "working hard" to bring "greater consistency" to the timetable as soon as possible.

Charles Horton, CEO, at Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We always said that delivering the biggest timetable change in generations would be challenging – but we are sorry that we have not been able to deliver the service that passengers expect. Delayed approval of the timetable led to an unexpected need to substantially adjust our plans and resources.

"We fully understand that passengers want more certainty and are working very hard to bring greater consistency to the timetable as soon as possible. We will also be working with industry colleagues to establish a timetable that will progressively deliver improvement.”

Mark Carne, Network Rail’s chief executive added: “There is no doubt that the May timetable was finalised significantly later than normal for reasons that were both within and without our control. The consequences of that have been particularly hard for both Northern and GTR to absorb.

"But we are all firmly focussed on fixing this issue as quickly as possible to give passengers the reliable service they need and deserve. At the moment, in some parts of the country, that simply isn’t happening and for that I’d like to wholeheartedly apologise.”

In the statement, the companies said it is reviewing how timetable changes are introduced to better understand the root causes of exactly what went wrong, so that future changes can implemented more smoothly.

Network Rail has said there is a need for change after a number of routes were operating at peak capacity. To facilitate the extra services to satisfy the huge growth in demand, the railway is undergoing its biggest modernisation since the Victorian era.

All of the new journeys needed to be individually approved by Network Rail but due to the number of changes required and the late running of some engineering improvements, the process took longer than anticipated, approvals for service changes were delayed and some timetable requests were changed.

Specialist training was not able to be completed in time for drivers to learn new routes and for operators to address all the logistical challenges.

Customers are urged to apply for Delay Repay compensation for affected journeys which can be found at https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/help-and-support/journey-problems/delay-repay