Rail passengers suffered delays and cancellations during the snow

Some commuters who faced a rail nightmare during the snow might not agree, but Southeastern has claimed the region's best ever results of a passenger survey.

Government watchdog Passenger Focus today revealed 84% of people are satisfied with the rail operator’s service.

This is a 1% improvement on last year's National Passenger Survey – and the highest score ever awarded to any operator on the network.

The results come after Southeastern services ground to a halt in the snow earlier this month, with cancellations and heavy delays.

The company invited some passengers whose journeys were severely disrupted to apply for compensation.

Southeastern managing director Charles Horton said: "We've been working hard to provide the best possible service for our passengers, so this survey result is very encouraging.

"This comes off the back of an excellent year in which Southeastern achieved record high punctuality, carried more passengers than ever before, successfully transported over 12 million people throughout the London 2012 Games and was given the highest possible award for Investors in People business management.

"We are by no means complacent - we appreciate that not every journey will always run smoothly, and that's why in partnership with Network Rail and our industry colleagues we’re working hard to further improve services for our passengers.

"However looking back at the satisfaction levels from when we commenced running the franchise in 2006, we’ve come a long way forward so our staff can certainly be proud of this achievement. I’m especially pleased our passengers have noticed an improvement in our service."