Thameslink and Southern rail companies are among the worst in the country, according to a survey of nearly 30,000 customers.

The company's customers had the lowest and third lowest overall satisfaction ratings in a national survey which was published on Wednesday, January 27.

Thameslink blamed a two per cent reduction in customers’ satisfaction with their service since spring 2015 on seven suicides in the first three weeks of the autumn survey and poor signal reliability.

The National Rail Passenger Survey - the largest published rail passenger satisfaction survey in the world – found that nationally 83 per cent of customers were satisfied with their journeys.

But Southern (78 per cent) and Thameslink (73 per cent) trailed behind the national average.

The survey is carried out twice a year. Findings of its autumn 2015 report were published this week.

From January 21: Transport for London announce takeover of London's suburban rail services

The findings come less than a week after MPs suggested that Govia-owned companies Thameslink and Southern could be stripped of their rail franchises earlier than 2021.

Transport for London (TfL) announced plans on Thursday, January 21 to take over all suburban rail routes over the next five years in a bid to improve companies like Southern and Thameslink’s “disastrous” service.

Southern cited “track and signal failures, a poor leaf fall season, train reliability, train crew availability and incidents beyond their control such as trespassers on the railway and lorries hitting bridges” for the poor performance in the survey.

A spokesperson for Southern said: “Whilst it is encouraging that we scored better overall this year over last, we are still a long way off where we would like to be.

"Clearly poor performance links heavily with overall satisfaction, but we are working closely with Network Rail on a programme of improvements to track and signalling systems.

“We are also working hard to improve our own performance to give our passengers a more reliable and punctual service.”

Thameslink attributed their poor performance to “seven suicides in the first three weeks of the survey, five of them on Thameslink and failed trains in the critical section of track in central London”.

A spokesperson for Thameslink said: “Since the time of this survey, and within only three months of taking over the franchise, we have introduced brand new trains on the Thameslink route but that is clearly not enough.

“We are also working closely with Network Rail and other industry partners on an action plan to improve reliability and service quality on the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink.”

Do you use Southern or Thameslink? Comment below or get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk