Furious commuters have hit out at a rail company after a new timetable reduced the number of trains serving their station.

There have been reports of severe overcrowding on platforms at Bushey station this week after two early morning services and an evening service were lost.

London Northwestern said the new December timetable would help fix the "shocking" service commuters have endured between London and Hertfordshire for much of 2019.

But for those travelling from Bushey, it appears it has only got worse.

Dan Hall, 46, from Oxhey travels into Euston everyday from Bushey station.

He says both the 6.51am and 7.15am services no longer stop at Bushey and he and many others have little option but to use the "overcrowded" eight-carriage 7.22am service.

He said: "The trains are overcrowded and the commutes are unpleasant. I'm either having to leave a lot earlier or get home later."

A 5.11pm service to Bushey from Euston has gone so Mr Hall now has to get a train at 5.34pm.

He added: "This all just feels like a big kick in the teeth. We've had a shocking service this year and we have a fare increase in January. It feels like we are paying more and getting less."

Mr Hall says he currently pays around £250 a month.

He adds that services are "only going to get busier" with all the developments near the station and believes the number of services should be increased rather than reduced.

The IT director is not the only commuter frustrated at the new timetable. Many passengers have taken to social media to vent their frustration.

Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor and Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden are both aware of the problems and say they have raised the issue with London Northwestern.

Mr Taylor said: "By increasing services at Watford Junction and other bigger stations whilst reducing those for commuters at Bushey, they appear to be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Hearing about commuters being unable to get onto trains they used to get on because they have either have been cancelled or are too overcrowded is just unacceptable."

Mr Dowden added: "I absolutely share the frustrations of Bushey residents about the poor performance of London Northwestern recently.

"Now I have been re-elected as Bushey’s MP, I will be arranging a meeting with London Northwestern directors as soon as possible so I can discuss these issues on behalf of local residents. Bushey residents pay thousands for their season tickets and they deserve to receive the standard of service they pay for."

One of the factors affecting the number of London Northwestern Railway services able to call at Bushey is the closure of two platforms at London Euston due to ongoing HS2 preparatory works

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway, said: “We have made a number of changes to our timetable, such as increasing dwell times at some stations, in order to improve the overall reliability of our services in this congested part of our network.

“In order to accommodate the changes there has been a small reduction in the number of services calling at Bushey. We are keeping performance of the new timetable under review and welcome feedback from passengers.

“We will be introducing longer trains serving Bushey in the next few months which will increase capacity for passengers using this route.”

The full timetable changes will last until May 2020. They can be found here: www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk/#updates