THE Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street trainline has been named as one of the worst in the country, by consumer magazine Which.

Abellio Greater Anglia was named joint 15th out of 17 with a 46 per cent customer satisfaction rating, just weeks after it was forced to cancel an entire day’s services when overhead cables were damaged by a passing train.

Last year the line was joint last place.

c2c, which runs between Shoebury and London Fenchurch Street, came in joint fourth place with a 62 per cent customer satisfaction rating – down slightly from its third place ranking last year.

The ratings were taking from an overall sample of 7,309 commuters, who were asked to rate the train line they use for availability of seating, cleanliness of toilets, condition of trains, punctuality, reliability and value for money.

The results will come as no surprise to Greater Anglia commuters, who regularly complain about old trains, delays, cancellations, and higher ticket prices than c2c.

Katie Duke 22, of Bournemouth Park Road, Southend, commutes to Brentwood every day.

She said: “I’ve just got off one of its late trains and I can’t remember the last time I was actually on time, so I’m not surprised by at all.

“Since the lines were down, it has got a little bit better, but not a lot.”

A Greater Anglia spokesman pointed out it had improved on its rating last year and was investing £30million to improve its service.

She said: “We recognise there is much more to do to improve customer satisfaction and our commitment to invest in improving services in addition to the investment that Network Rail is making in infrastructure upgrades, demonstrates our commitment to do all we can to improve services for rail passengers across our network.

“More correspondents in the 2014 Which? survey were satisfied with their journey than the previous year, however this survey is based on a much smaller sample of Abellio Greater Anglia customers, with 389 surveyed compared to the 2,164 who participated in the recent National Passenger Survey where 80 per cent of our customers told Passenger Focus they were satisfied."”

A c2c spokesman welcomed the provider’s high placing.

He said: “Improving passenger satisfaction is at the heart of our plans for the new franchise.

“That’s why since November we have introduced a number of new improvements that are already proving popular with passengers, such as free wifi, the new c2c smartcard and discounted ticket offers.

“c2c passengers are the most satisfied in the country with the punctuality of their train service, and we are aiming to match this in other areas too.”

Echo: