First Great Western has questioned a survey which revealed that customers were unhappy with the service they were getting.

The train company which operates through Swindon did poorly in a customer satisfaction survey carried out by the magazine Which? with a score of 48 per cent.

For the first time, Which? surveyed train passengers to find out what they thought of the train companies they used.

The Which? survey painted a mixed picture of the service provided by the train companies, with some passengers experiencing overcrowding, erratic punctuality and poor value for money. Survey satisfaction scores ranged from 64 per cent for top-rated company Virgin Trains to 40 per cent for bottom-ranked Southeastern.

Which? asked passengers about key issues of train travel, including punctuality, cleanliness, room for passengers, catering and value for money.

Separately, Which? also asked members of its Which? Connect panel what they thought of their train journeys between November 2011 and January 2012.

Which? received responses relating to 1,844 journeys.

Punctuality and cleanliness were vital for passengers to be content with their travel experience.

Beyond that, factors such as good staff or poor food could sway people to feel more or less positive about their journey, with First Great Western coming bottom of the pack for food despite all their services providing food.

A spokesman for First Great Western said: “We have got a couple of issues with the survey.

“First we are going to be looking at the results and the methodology of the survey.

“We will take on board its results and make any changes that might be needed.

“We have many issues with the survey itself.

“Only 500 people were used whereas the national rail survey takes 200,000 travellers and they survey people who they know travel regularly.

“More than 82 per cent of our customers were happy with our service.”

The results of the survey came just months after it was announced that First Great Western had decided to end its south west franchise three years earlier than expected.

Swindon Council recently hosted a public consultation event to gauge what rail users wanted from the next train operator.