Whatever criticism it has received in the wake of the high speed timetable changes, Southeastern Trains has just enjoyed a boost with its best showing in a passenger survey.

The Spring National Passenger Survey was published today by transport users watchdog Passenger Focus, showing that eight out of 10 people on the company's trains found the services satisfactory or good.

Passenger Focus's NPS, in which over 56,000 passengers participate each year, gives a clear indication of how satisfied passengers are with train companies travelling into the capital and around the South East.

Essex operator c2c (91 per cent ) and home counties operator Chiltern (91 per cent) were strong performers in the survey and passenger satisfaction with value for money increased for most of the region's operators thanks to many fares either dropping or being fixed last New Year. However, First Capital Connect's score for managing disruption plummeted 10 points to only 24 per cent, despite it being among passengers' top priorities for improvement.

Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus rail director, said: "These results show a pretty good picture of the region's railway. As more trains arrive on time, Britain's rail passengers are becoming more satisfied. However, the gulf between the likes of c2c and Chiltern compared with other operators which didn't score as well, is wide.

For example, Southeastern's new high speed services are loved by those who can afford them 95 per cent overall satisfaction, with a good rating for value for money."

Vince Lucas, service delivery director, said: "It’s pleasing to see our staff’s hard work paying off and more customers feeling satisfied with the service we provide. It’s testament to our employees’ commitment to continually improve the service that’s reflected in these customer satisfaction scores.

"However, we’re not complacent as there’s still more work to do to ensure more people are happy in the future."

The spring survey revealed that Southeastern achieved a 5 per cent increase in satisfaction year on year, reaching 81 per cent.

Key parts of the survey focused on:

- Station upkeep and environment

- Helpfulness and attitude of all staff at stations and on trains

- The amount of room available on trains

The firm runs about 2,000 trains into London from Kent and East Sussex each day - famously more trains than operate in the whole of Switzerland - and those trains carry more than 400,000 passengers.

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