Rail passengers in Sussex feel unsafe at stations and are travelling in poorly-designed coaches, according to a report published today.

A survey of 60 railway stations across the South-East of England, including 18 in Sussex and an examination of trains, found tracks strewn with rubbish, carriages with safety defects and a lack of information for passengers.

The report was conducted by the South-East England branch of women's group Soroptimist International.

In spring this year, a task force from the branch surveyed stations and rolling stock. People using the railways were questioned on their travelling experiences and senior railway staff were interviewed.

In trains, safety defects such as difficult-to-reach communication cords in carriages had not been put right since being identified as troublesome in 1997, the report found.

Closed-circuit TV cameras in carriages and stations showed up in the report as "uncoordinated and of varying quality" and track litter was described as "appalling even at otherwise well-kept stations".

Only half of the stations visited displayed posters produced by British Transport Police, showing its emergency telephone number. There was also a lack of telephones and help points at some stations.

Of those passengers questioned, many commented they had witnessed frightening incidents on the trains and although they had not reported them to police, they were put off travelling in the future.

President of the Soroptimist International branch Penny Veness said: "We all want to feel safe and be safe. People want staff in the right place to sort out problems, decent signs, basic information, pleasant surroundings - the sort of format that successful retail chains spend a lot of time fine-tuning.

"Our team saw much good practice and enthusiasm in individual companies but the approach is uncoordinated and bitty. The break up of the railways has made a bad situation worse."

The group has come up with 78 recommendations on how to improve stations and trains.

A spokeswoman for Connex South Central, one of the companies which operates trains in East Sussex, said: "We have been working with Soroptimist on this report and are open to their suggestions. They have come up with some excellent ideas."

The Health and Safety Executive has accepted a pledge by South Central, Connex and South West Trains that all slam-door trains will be fitted with the Train Protection Warning System by the end of next March.