Passenger satisfaction with train services has fallen to a 10-year low and South Western Railway is near the bottom of the pile.

The autumn 2018 Transport Focus survey of more than 25,000 passengers found that overall satisfaction was 79 per cent.

This is down two percentage points year-on-year and means one in five passengers were not satisfied.

But SW Railway couldn't even match those low standards as its number came out at 73 per cent, good for tied third worst in the UK.

A spokesman for the train company said they want to do better.

“Performance has not been at the level we want, or expect, to deliver and we are determined to put that right," he said.

"Our customers will know that last autumn when the survey was carried out saw several major incidents that unfortunately caused significant disruption.

"We are working very closely with Network Rail - who manage the infrastructure along the route – to reduce delays and improve how we respond to incidents when they do occur."

Transport Focus said passengers are less happy now than at any time since 2008 due to poor punctuality, the timetable chaos of last summer and continued disruption due to strikes.

Its National Rail Passenger survey was conducted between September 1 and November 16 last year.

The SW spokesman said the survey time coincided with a few major disruptions.

"The period of the survey also saw additional disruption caused by RMT strike action," he said.

“Whilst these incidents clearly affected overall satisfaction, we were pleased to see that there was an uplift in some areas such as the cleanliness of our trains and information provided by staff, but we know we still have a long way to go.

“We’re investing £1.2bn over the course of the franchise to increase capacity, improve our services and enhance customer experience with new trains and better station facilities.

"These enhancements will make a real difference in the months ahead, helping to improve performance and punctuality and keeping people and communities connected.”

The highest rating was achieved by Heathrow Express at 96 per cent, while the lowest was recorded by Great Northern at 68 per cent.