Commuters who travel on Southeastern trains between Orpington and London Victoria are being hit with a reduction in services.

Trains currently run between the two stations every 15 minutes for most of the week – but Southeastern will cut this to two an hour when its new timetable is introduced on May 20.

Southeastern insists there is no reduction in services from Orpington, and says the two discarded trains between Orpington and Victoria will be replaced with two more trains to London Blackfriars introduced by Thameslink.

Bromley and Chislehurst MP Bob Neill said the timetable change will be “detrimental for commuters”.

He said: “I am certainly concerned and I am particularly worried about the constituents who have raised it with me.

“It seems to be yet another case of suburban services losing out. Their rationale seems to be that by cutting the Orpington to Victoria service it enables faster trains.

“But that is no good for people who want to go to Victoria from Petts Wood or Bickley.

“It underlines that there is a conflict of need of long-distance services and metro-style suburban services.”

The Conservative MP added: “We need to keep the pressure up. This should be a top priority. They have had to make other adjustments when they have got things wrong – this is the same.

"The reaction has been that it is classic Southeastern. It is another example of us being the poorer relations."

People have taken to Twitter to voice their concerns over the changes.

BromleyCommuter said: “Why should Orpington passengers lose a metro-style service? Thameslink was meant to bring enhancements not cuts.”

Another commuter tweeted: "Can you explain where all the trains from Orpington to Victoria have gone on your new timetable? It’s gone from a 15 minutes service to 30? Yet the trains rammed? Or am I reading it incorrectly?"

A spokesman for Southeastern told News Shopper that Orpington will now benefit from more services to London.

He said: “From Orpington, there will be a new, all-day Thameslink service, calling at Elephant & Castle, London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras International. This will provide connections with Elizabeth line services, Eurostar and, in the peak, London Luton Airport. In the off-peak these trains will run to Kentish Town.

“At peak times, there will continue to be two direct Southeastern services per hour from Orpington to Victoria, with frequent services to Cannon Street and Charing Cross.

"We’re also introducing two additional morning peak services from Orpington to Charing Cross, and one additional service in the evening peak.

“Off-peak, there will be two direct services to Victoria per hour, as well as two new, all-day Thameslink services, two services to Cannon Street and six direct trains to Charing Cross."

A spokesman for Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Thameslink, said: "Ahead of these changes we consulted extensively alongside Southeastern and the significant benefits arising from the new timetable proposals were strongly supported.

"The new service will be a real boon for passengers, offering greater regular connectivity to four new central London stations between Blackfriars and St Pancras and, from December, direct interchange at Farringdon with the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail).

"There will also be a doubling of the frequency of Thameslink services on the Catford Loop through Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye, Nunhead, Crofton Park, Catford, Bellingham, Beckenham Hill and Ravensbourne."