One in three rail commuters has seriously considered looking for work outside London to avoid using the rail network, a survey claims.

It found 31 per cent had seriously considered seeking work outside the capital in the last year.

A total of 1,104 regular users of public transport in London were questioned.

The survey also revealed more than 70 per cent of rail commuters did not believe the Government could improve services before the next General Election.

As many as 23 per cent of those surveyed said they sympathised most with the unions in relation to recent industrial action on the railways.

Shelley Atlas, of passengers' group Brighton Line Commuters, said surveys needed to be treated with caution.

But she said the industry's troubles following the Hatfield disaster had made it difficult for regular travellers to imagine services would improve before the next election.

She said: "It is difficult to see how we are going to get improvements in time. I don't necessarily say we won't get them but it is difficult to imagine we will."

She added: "The journeys are now taking longer and it is a long enough journey from Brighton to London as it is.

"If we add the delays it could be another three or four hours of travelling, which is why people are fed up."

The Association of Train Operating Companies said: "While we are in no way complacent, it is encouraging that during this period rail travel continued to grow."

It said rail travel remained safe and cost-effective.