A government review into rail services has been welcomed in the hope that commuters do not face “chaos” and “widespread disruption” again.

The announcement follows continued disruptions and cancellations on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Northern Rail services since May 20, when the rail industry attempted the biggest timetable change for years.

An interim timetable was then introduced on June 4 followed by the introduction of a third timetable in July.

The Thameslink line serves commuters in St Albans, Harpenden, Radlett, Borehamwood and parts of Barnet. The Great Northern line serves commuters in Enfield and parts of Haringey.

Labour London Assembly spokesperson for transport, Florence Eshalomi, said: “Londoners must never again have to face a repeat of the recent timetable chaos, which brought widespread disruption to so many people’s lives.

“It is absolutely unjustifiable that beleaguered commuters have been subjected to seemingly endless delays and cancellations, despite paying exorbitant fares.”

Ms Eshalomi also called for more of London’s rail services to be devolved to Transport for London (TfL) and said it was something the Government review should “seriously” consider.

The announcement of the review came in the wake of report published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) yesterday over the delays.

ORR revealed that a lack of responsibility and accountability was largely to blame for the collapse of services in May.

Over a period of several weeks, GTR and Northern cancelled up to 470 and 310 scheduled trains respectively each weekday.

The enquiry found that neither Northern Rail or GTR were prepared for the disruption neither did they do enough to provide accurate information to passengers.

Chairman of the London Assembly transport committee Caroline Pidgeon said the results of the survey came as “no surprise” to anyone.

She added: “It is simply unfair to ask Londoners to fork out more and more money each year for services that frequently just aren’t good enough.

“The Transport Secretary, the Department for Transport, National Rail and Govia Thameslink all have a lot to answer for and there’s a long way to go to fully compensate Londoners for the time and money they have lost being caught up in this mess.”