Thameslink, South West Trains and Southern rail companies have been slammed for being unreliable, late, overcrowded, and having unavailable or dirty toilets, in a new survey completed by nearly 7,000 people.

From January 21: Transport for London announce takeover of London's suburban rail services

Thameslink and Southern respectively had the joint lowest and third lowest customer scores in a satisfaction survey published by consumer advisers Which? yesterday.

In Which?’s survey, published on Thursday, February 18, Thameslink and Southern received only two stars (out of five) for availability of seating, availability and cleanliness of toilets, reliability and punctuality.

Southeastern and Thameslink and Great Northern received overall satisfaction ratings of just 46 per cent – the lowest of 23 rail companies reviewed.

Southern received an overall score of just 48 per cent - edging out Abellio Greater Anglia by one per cent.

South West Trains (51 per cent) fared marginally better but scored just two stars for the availability and cleanliness of their toilets and value for money.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “Our report shows commuters are getting a raw deal from their train operator.

“Whether it’s dirty facilities on the train, over-crowding or delayed trains, it’s clear operators need to up their game.”

From January 28: Commuters name Thameslink and Southern as among the worst in the country in national survey

A spokesperson from Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs both Southern and Thameslink rail services said: "We are working hard to improve performance by reducing the delays within our control.

“However, there is no quick fix for the constraints that the rebuilding of London Bridge has put on our busy network, which means any incident quickly results in a domino effect on other services.

“We will however, continue to do everything within our power to provide our passengers with a better service, including providing better information to passengers during disruption and continuing with the country’s biggest ever driver recruitment and training programme.”

The two companies also underperformed in the National Rail Passenger Survey, which was published last month.

Southern (78 per cent) and Thameslink (73 per cent) trailed behind the national average of 83 per cent in that survey – the largest published rail passenger satisfaction survey in the world.

What do you think? Get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk