SOUTHERN rail has set a new record low for customer satisfaction with the trains’ toilets among the only two things to receive a score above rock-bottom.

A report published today gives the Southern service a satisfaction rating of just 21 per cent, the poorest result of any operator in the history of the Which? survey.

Southern was given the lowest-possible one-out-of-five stars in all categories but two - the condition of its toilets and its carriages - where it got two stars.

Southern accepted that “performance is unacceptable,” and apologised, while the RMT union said the the company was “the absolute worst of a bad bunch.”

Consumer survey firm Which? polled 2,218 train users in October and November, including 256 Southern commuters.

Respondents were asked to award stars and points for punctuality, reliability, seat availability, standing space, frequency, the conditions of the carriages and the toilets, and value for money.

Merseyrail and Virgin West Coast received four or five stars in every category, with scores of 72 and 69 per cent.

At the bottom of the table, Southern got one- or two-stars and the record low score of 21 per cent. Thameslink and Great Northern, also owned by Govia Thameslink, ranked third-from-bottom of the 21 operators with 32 per cent.

Vickie Sheriff, Director of Campaigns and Communications at Which? said: “After months of disruption, it’s no surprise to see Southern at the bottom of our customer satisfaction survey.”

A spokesman for Which? said a direct comparison with previous years and other operators is difficult because of changes to the survey and samples, but said this was the lowest score ever received in the six years of the project.

A spokesman for Govia Thameslink said: “Performance is unacceptable and we’re sincerely sorry. Our passengers deserve better and, together with Network Rail and its £300m funding package to improve track signalling and overall performance, we’re working hard to improve the service.

“This survey inevitably reflects the significant impact of the wholly unjustified industrial action being taken by Aslef and the RMT.”

RMT leader Mick Cash said: “This Which? Report shows that Southern Rail are the absolute worst of a bad-bunch when it comes to Britain’s rotten, privatised railways. The responsibility for this catastrophic mismanagement of this crucial rail operation lies fairly and squarely with the Government and their contractors GTR.”

He went on: “GTR and their French-backers, who routinely put private profits before passenger services and safety, must be stripped of this franchise with the public sector given a chance to sort this mess out once and for all.”

WREATHS TO SYMBOLISE THE GRIEF OF A DAILY COMMUTE

ON THE same day customer satisfaction with Southern rail is shown to have hit an all-time low, commuters in London and Sussex may start to notice mysterious piles of flowers laid outside stations.

That is because hundreds of protesters have signed up to lay wreaths and bouquets to signify the “death of their patience” with the woeful service provided by the railway.

The three-day protest is the collective brainchild of a facebook group founded by Worthing commuter Robin Marchant, whose experiences will have an infuriating ring of familiarity to those who have fought to get to and from London over the past year.

He explained: “Strike days are horrendous obviously because I can’t get in, but particularly in the last two or three months, even when there aren’t strikes, it’s regularly taken me three or four hours to get home. I have a nightmare journey at least once a week.

“Just last week after two trains were cancelled in London we all squeezed onto a four-carriage train.

“It got to Haywards Heath and then they cancelled it, so everyone had to get off and we had to wait for the next train. It probably took me four hours to get home.”

During one such miserable commute last year, the 39-year-old IT professional created a Facebook “event” for a three-day protest over January 17, 18 and 19.

It quickly gained traction.

Robin said: “It took off. It got more than 2,000 people interested so I asked people to suggest ideas of what to do.”

The plan was for something busy commuters could do without disrupting their routines too badly, and without breaking the law.

Robin said: “A lot of people said they would be interested in not paying but I was told if I did that I’d be liable to be done for incitement to cause illegal trespass. I’ve got a wife and two kids, I don’t want to break the law.”

A shortlist of ideas was drawn up, including fancy dress, placards, a letter writing campaign and laying flowers, and the latter was the overwhelming winner of a public vote.

Robin explained: “The intention is to create a visual outpouring of how we feel.

“So we’re laying flowers and writing messages to everyone – the unions, the Government and the company.

“The key is it’s the death of our patience, and the grief everybody is going through daily. And it means RIP Southern Rail, RIP effective service.”

The protest is not directed at any one party to the dispute but a way of communicating commuters’ dismay to all three.

The memorials to the tripartite failure will be outside stations at Brighton, East Croydon, London Bridge and Victoria.

Initial plans to lay flowers inside the stations were given approval by British Transport Police but changed by organisers after Network Rail informed them that any such tributes would be quickly swept away.

The flowers will be on public land instead. More than 700 people have said they will “attend” the protest so the mounds of flowers may become sizeable.

Robin explained: “When there’s a national tragedy or a national outpouring of grief, you see mountains of flowers. We’re hoping people will see the same thing for this, and read our messages.”

The group’s meagre hope, according to its creator, is simply “to send a message to all parties to improve the service as soon as possible”.

OVERTIME BAN ALSO HURTS

SINCE drivers’ union Aslef joined the fray, Southern commuters are facing more frequent and comprehensive strikes than ever. Driver walkouts – unlike conductors’ strikes – bring the network to a complete halt.

Recently there were stoppages over the holiday period with Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) members refusing to work from Saturday, December 31 to Monday, January 2.

And last week the drivers of the Aslef union, having threatened a week-long strike, ultimately stayed at home on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Commuters reported having to pay for non-refundable childcare, hotels and absence from work for the entire week despite the stop-start strike.

There will be a brief respite this week when both drivers and conductors (now called on board supervisors) come into work every day.

However, since the unions have decided not to work any overtime – in an industry which traditionally relies on the practice – some services will not run or will face cancellation even while strikes are not taking place.

Yesterday, Southern’s owners Govia Thameslink Railway announced plans to augment their workforce with an additional 200 fully trained drivers who may be able to work part time. The aim is to staff the service in such a way as not to rely on overtime, which will reduce the take-home pay of drivers.

The next strike is due to take place next week, on Monday January 23, by the RMT.

That will be followed by strikes by Aslef drivers on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of that week.

Some MPs have called for legislation to reduce the rights of workers in critical industries to withdraw their labour, suggesting a judge should first decide whether such action is “reasonable and appropriate”.

An open letter to the Prime Minister from 50 Tory MPs, published in the Sunday Telegraph, said: “We fully respect the right to strike. But this right must now be balanced with the right of the wider public to get to work and get home to see loved ones.”