ABELLIO Greater Anglia has one of the lowest customer satisfaction scores in the UK, a new report has found.
The company, which runs trains on the Chelmsford to London Liverpool Street line, scored only 47 per cent in the survey and was rated 20th out of 22 rail companies in the country.
The survey, carried out by consumer group Which?, concluded passengers are getting a raw deal suffering from overcrowded and dirty trains as well as having problems with complaints and receiving refunds.
The fifth annual survey quizzed nearly 7,000 people on their train journeys and received 541 responses for Abellio.
Only Southeastern, and Thameslink and Great Northern rated worse with 46 percent each.
Essex’s other rail provider, c2c, scored fifth overall with 62 percent, despite recent controversy over its new timetable.
Commuting and leisure passengers rated rail providers across eight areas including availability of seating, cleanliness of carriages, train reliability and value for money.
Abellio Greater Anglia has managed the East Anglia rail franchise since July 2014.
The franchise, which carries 354,000 passengers each day, is due for renewal this October.
A spokesperson Abellio Greater Anglia said: “The Which? survey is not as representative or comprehensive as the recent autumn 2015 National Rail Passenger Survey when almost three times the number of passengers using our services across the region were surveyed.
“81 per cent of Abellio Greater Anglia customers had told Transport Focus they were satisfied with the service.
“This was the highest increase in customer satisfaction amongst all operators and contrary to the Which? survey, satisfaction in key areas of the report for train and station cleanliness, upkeep and repair of the train and value for money, showed improvement.
"We know there is more to do to meet our customers' expectations and we are absolutely committed to consistently raising customer service standards still further over the remaining period of our franchise.”
Abellio said it was also working to make it easier for delayed passengers to claim compensation.
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