Commuters using the London Midland service from Bushey this week described the morning rush hour journey as "hell".

Monday was the first day of the amended timetable, which has a reduced number of services due to essential engineering work carried out by Network Rail at Watford Junction.

The 7.59am and 8.19am from Bushey to London Euston have been replaced by the 7.48am and 8.09am and many passengers described this service as "extremely busy" and "overcrowded".

One passenger described how a pregnant woman broke down in tears after being forced to stand, squashed against people for most of her journey.

The passenger said: "The train was so that packed no-one could see she was pregnant.

"Add to that a sarcastic driver was making announcements at Harrow that if people did not get off the train he would take it out of service because of the overcrowding.

"I counted at least 70 people standing."

Depending on the type of train, most London Midland trains seat between 60 to 66 people per carriage and have room for rougly 37 people to stand.

One Bushey resident, who commutes into London daily said: "It was just awful.

"At first when we heard that the two services will be replaced by another two, we thought it would be okay. I caught the 8.09am, which was not only running late, but was already extremely busy and overcrowded.

"And when it stopped at Bushey, people were rushing and pushing to try and get on, especially as the next train would mean waiting at least another 40 minutes."

Other train users took to Twitter to express their frustration.

Jay Dee on twitter said: "The 8.09am at Bushey was dangerously overcrowded. And there's a month of this hell."

Lousie Sherlock said the trains arriving were already full and the amended timetable for December was not the best idea.

In response the to the frustrated passengers, London Midland tweeted: "Unfortunately, the engineering works are essential to maintain safety"

Francis Thomas, spokesperson for London Midland said: "We are really sorry people are not having a comfortable journey.

"Unfortunately there is nothing we can do while Network Rail carry out the engineering work.

"We are advising customers to use alternative routes into London during December, such as the overground or the metropolitan line from Watford, or use Radlett or Aldenham stations."

Mr Thomas also added that the trains are at the longest length, at 12 carriages, so they cannot add any more carriages to accomodate the increased number of people.

Have you been affected by the engineering work? Email jyoti.rambhai@london.newsquest.co.uk.