Delayed and cancelled rail services at Sutton station have become so frequent an MP has branded the efforts of operators “an unacceptable collapse in performance”.

Research by Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, has found only 50 per cent of Southern’s trains, and 62 per cent of Thameslink’s, arrive within a minute of when timetabled, compared to a national average of 64.6 per cent.

Southern has the worst performance record on the network, closely followed by Thameslink. Southern’s moving annual average (MAA), to December 9, 2014, for punctuality and reliability is 83.7 per cent and Thameslink’s is 84.9 per cent, the two lowest of any train operator in England. The average is 89.3 per cent.

For the routes that run through Sutton, the figures are even worse – Southern has an MAA of 83.3 per cent and Thameslink one of 77.4 per cent.

The MP was outside Sutton station on Monday to gauge commuter opinion. He will take these concerns to Southern Rail bosses.

The Liberal Democrat said: “As a commuter myself, I have suffered falling standards, particularly in the evening services.

“My constituency mailbag and tweets from residents have shown a dramatic upward turn in complaints.

“That is why I have called the meeting with Southern and why I want to have similar discussions with Thameslink. With rises in fares, people have a right to expect the service to improve or at least remain stable. Yet what is happening is an unacceptable collapse in performance.

“With major works going on at London Bridge, the problems are likely to get worse.”

In a joint statement issued by Network Rail and Southern, the operators said they accepted performance had not been good enough and understood passenger frustration when things went wrong.

They said both companies were working to improve reliability and investing in improving the reliability of trains and infrastructure.

David Scorey, Southern’s deputy managing director, said: “We understand our passengers’ frustration and apologise for the levels of performance they are currently experiencing.

“We and Network Rail are creating a joint improvement plan for the railway to improve the reliability of the infrastructure and are working on timetable improvements to certain trains in peak times.”

Network Rail’s area director Steve Knight said: “Trains to Victoria and London Bridge travel over the most congested part of the whole of Britain’s railway network and we are constantly pushing against the boundaries of what is physically possible on the infrastructure.

“To make things better, we are rebuilding the railway around Bermondsey and London Bridge, which will make a huge difference to reliability.

“While the work is going on, we are operating with reduced capacity, but we are doing all we can to continue to run as many trains as possible.”