Rail fares in the South East rose by more than the UK average

Figures released by the Strategic Rail Authority for January to March showed passenger satisfaction levels for South Eastern Trains stood at just 63%.

South Central, which was last month renamed Southern, had the second lowest satisfaction figure - 65%.

But Gatwick Express, running trains to the Sussex airport, came top with 90%.

Improved punctuality

Across the UK an average of 73% of passengers rated their journeys as satisfactory or very satisfactory.

All three companies had improved records for punctuality compared with the same period a year earlier.

South Eastern, which has run services in Kent, parts of East Sussex and into London since Connex was stripped of its franchise last year, ran 82.4% of its trains on time - up from 79.7% in the first quarter of 2003.

Southern, whose trains run from London into Surrey and Sussex, had 80.4% of trains on time, up from 75.9%.

Gatwick Express improved from 80.1% to 80.4%.

But for all three, the improved figures were still below the national average of 83.1% of trains running on time.

Rail fares in the South East rose by 1.7% in the year to January 2004, higher than the UK average rise of 1.4%.