The service on Southern Railways has been “totally unacceptable”, so says the very man tasked with running them.

In a full-page newspaper advert, Charles Horton, chief executive of Southern Railways, apologised to commuters who face “significant disruption” as a result of its ongoing dispute with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) over conductors.

The RMT union is protesting Southern’s plans to introduce new trains with driver-operated doors, arguing that these trains would compromise passenger safety.

Southern claims that the practice is already in effect on 40 per cent of their trains and is “simply evolving the role of the conductor”, freeing them up to focus on customer service “rather than closing the train doors”.

Mr Horton insists that it won’t mean any job losses or pay cuts. In his advert, the Southern boss slammed the rail workers’ strike as “completely unnecessary” and sympathised with commuters.

He wrote: “You have suffered the consequences of unprecedented levels of sickness absence amongst many of our employees. I apologise unreservedly for the service we are presently offering, which I consider totally unacceptable."

The apology comes after the RMT said that Southern Rail's owners GoviaThameslink  Railway paid out £2 million in penalties for delays, as well as £2.16m to boss David Brown.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said the service has 'chosen to declare war on its passengers and staff alike'.