Kent MPs have heaped further criticism on under-fire rail operators Southeastern and have pressed ministers to tighten up the rules on refunds and penalties.

The call came in a debate at Westminster today initiated by the long-standing critic of the company Sir John Stanley, the Tonbridge and Malling MP.

During the debate, one MP accused Southeastern of massaging its figures to avoid paying compensation to travellers.

Thanet North MP Roger Gale said the company had effectively manipulated its figures to include the more reliable High Speed One services.

"The figures used by Southeastern, which by a whisker have scraped above the compensation level appear to have included the performance of the HS1 service which, although not infallible, is more modern and more reliable in bad weather than the 'classic’ services."

"I am sure that if the HS1 performance figures were removed from the equation we would begin to see the real, ghastly, figures that describe the service used by those commuting to and from work in London."

Sir John made a series of criticisms of Southeastern, highlighting its removal of peak hour services from west Kent to the City.

But he also took the government to task over franchise agreements that allowed operators to base decisions on passenger refunds on cancellations rather than whether services ran late.

He said: "After all, these companies are in effect monopolies and when you have monopolies, they will tend to exploit the situation. You have to have firm and fair regulation. All the evidence shows that a firm and fair system does not exist."

He added: "The [refund] regime applies to lateness but not to cancellations. It is a perverse incentive to rail operators to cancel services. Commuters would far rather be on a train that arrived late rather than have services cancelled."

It was wrong for franchise agreements to allow rail companies to switch services "off like a tap," he said.

Responding, transport minister Theresa Villiers said she was examining how operating companies assessed punctuality. "We are looking to the rail industry to respond and do much better."

Earlier, county transport chiefs slated Southeastern’s failure to provide passengers with up-to-date service information during the big freeze, describing it as abysmal and totally inadequate.

In a hard-hitting report setting out an action plan for the county’s rail network, Kent County Council has added its voice to those condemning the rail operator’s performance during recent weeks.

The council’s blueprint for improving rail services, "Rail Action Plan for Kent", says the next franchise must include a requirement for passengers to be provided with better information when there are delays and cancellations.

It says Southeastern’s performance has "been abysmal, with extended delays, cancellations and even overnight journeys" and compares its efforts to provide information with other rail operators as "totally inadequate."

It calls on the government to ensure any future franchise specification, includes a requirement to keep passengers better informed.

"To be worthy of winning a new franchise in 2014, Southeastern must radically improve their provision of information, ensuring it is relevant, accurate and up-to-date when inclement winter weather strikes again.

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"Anything less will be regarded not just by KCC but by stakeholders across the country as totally unacceptable," the report says.

The action plan details key service improvements that KCC believes should be incorporated in the next franchise, including the restoration of regular peak-period trains from Maidstone East to West End and City stations, as well as a new parkway station for Manston.

Cllr Nick Chard, KCC’s cabinet member for transport, said the restoration of key services from west Kent and better connections with east Kent were vital.

"We are setting out the priorities for the Kent rail user but there has been growing concern over the lack of services on the Maidstone East line."

He added that Network Rail was behind plans for a Manston Parkway station.

"It would make a huge difference to journeys from Manston to St Pancras. It is not pie in the sky but a case of not if but when."

Jon Hay-Campbell, media relations manager for Southeastern, said the company would learn from its mistakes.

He said: "During the exceptionally cold and snowy weather, which caused widespread disruption to all modes of transport across Kent, we operated the best service we could, given the extremely challenging circumstances.

"Network Rail, which has responsibility for keeping the track clear of snow and ice for us to run our services on them, had insufficient resources to keep large parts of the network open.

"We acknowledge that at times information provided was lacking and we are taking part in a review of industry systems to ensure lessons are learnt and improvements made."

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