Rolling stock is 29 years old

But new trains are ready and waiting in the sidings, unable to be used because there is not enough power on the rails to power them, claims Lewes MP Norman Baker.

The figures revealed by Mr Baker from a Parliamentary Answer show that SouthCentral is currently near the bottom of a league table of 25 rail operators, with only Island Line and Virgin South West running older rolling stock.

In sharp contrast, the average age for carriages run by the c2c operator is just two years and Chiltern Railways, eight years.

Said Mr Baker: 'The current rolling stock is very old, much of it dating back to when the Beatles were No.1 with She Loves You, TV was black and white and Alec Douglas-Home was Prime Minister.

'At last new trains are coming through but we need to end the farce whereby they are left sitting in sidings because there is inadequate power on the rails to take them.

'The Government needs to fulfil its commitment to reverse this problem.

'The delay has so far been down to a complete failure in joined-up thinking by Railtrack, the train operating company Connex and the Deputy Prime Minister, the three groups who were in charge when the trains were ordered.

'A consequence of privatisation is that the railways have been atomised. I get the impression that there are far too many people in the rail industry who couldn't run a bath never mind railway.'