by political editor Paul Francis

They have endured cancellations, delays and an inflation-busting hike in fares.

But despite widespread passenger unhappiness and a litany of complaints about the rail operator Southeastern, a surprising survey has found that eight out of ten are satisfied with the service they are getting.

The survey by Passenger Focus - the rail watchdog group - says that overall satisfaction with Southeastern stands at 80 per cent - just two per cent down on the rating the company got for the same period last year.

While the findings are likely to surprise many of Southeastern’s beleagured travellers, one explanation could be the timing.

The survey was carried out between September and November, before widespread disruption caused by the bad winter weather and the announcement of a huge hike in fares.

Southeastern said it was "encouraged" by the findings but that sparked anger from one Kent MP. Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch said:

"Quite how Southeastern can be encouraged by such damning results is not only concerning but bordering on an insult to their passengers".

The survey found that 75 per cent of passengers were satisfied with the frequency of trains and 79 per cent were satisfied with the operator’s punctuality and reliability. Some 62 per cent said they were satisfied there was enough room to either sit or stand - a conclusion some may find hard to swallow.

On the downside, just 39 per cent said they were satisfied with value for money offered by Southeastern and just over a third felt it dealt with delays satisfactorily.

The new High Speed One service was particularly well rated with 94 per cent of passengers surveyed saying they were satisfied although only 45 per cent rated it as value for money. Satisfaction with other services was lower at 77 per cent.

Ms Crouch said: "Southeastern seem to be of the view that these are an encouraging set of results but this is far from the truth.

"Southeastern’s passengers have consistently ranked the service in the bottom three of all Train Operating Companies, they have the highest level of customer dissatisfaction for their overall service and equally poor results for value for money and train punctuality.

"If you actually compare the figures with the previous Spring and Autumn surveys, customer satisfaction has fallen, despite their claims otherwise."

Southeastern said in a statement: "We are encouraged that we have matched our results from last year in the latest National Passenger Survey following the biggest timetable change in this region for 40 years.

"We’re particularly pleased with the continued success of High Speed as the UK’s best commuter service with 94 per cent satisfaction.

"However we recognise the survey was carried out before the recent exceptional snow and icy weather which caused major disruption to our services.We appreciate that there is still a lot more that we can do to improve our service for our passengers."