Passengers at Chatham Station in Medway were asked whether staff were offering an adequate rail enquiries service. They were also asked whether they were getting the best fares available and experiencing a generally good service.

This follows a survey published yesterday by consumer magazine Which? interviewing over1,500 people who travelled by train in the UK last year. Results have shown only half were confident they knew how to get the best available fare.

Sarah Jones, who travels daily to St Pancras International, said: “The service isn’t good value. For instance, the High Speed service, they class it as a fast train and its cleaner. But it doesn’t justify nearly £800 more being spent than the regular fare to Victoria.”

Which? claimed many station clerks were poorly trained and not offering enough passenger guidance. They also said many training operating companies’ ticketing systems were too complicated.

Martin Wilson, who commutes daily from Falconwood Station to London Charing Cross said: “I’m not confident I would know how to get the best fares if I didn’t use thetrainline.com. Staff vary from being very helpful to completely woeful. The main problem is the complexity of the ticketing system, which despite recent improvements still leaves something to be desired.”

Another passenger at Chatham Station, Miss Kwatiura, who spends £18.60 daily travelling on a return ticket to Ramsgate, said: “The ticketing system here is complicated. I’m generally quite happy with Southeastern’s service, it’s just their staff don’t seem to be very efficient.”

However a spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) alleged yesterday the Which? report was “seriously misleading and misrepresentative” and added the report was based on “unrealistic scenarios”.

Richard Dilks, Senior Researcher at Which?, said: “We think we’re realistic. The survey isn’t designed to catch people out. Asking about offering cheap or expensive fare prices on routes like London to Birmingham are all appropriate questions. It’s just a horrendously complicated system for a passenger today travelling on the train. We found that value for money and the quality of advice given was lacking for customers.”

But Southeastern Trains, who serve 179 stations across London and the South East, defended their service when comparing it to those provided by other national train operating companies.

Sarah Boundy, Head of Communications and Publicity at Southeastern Trains, said: “All Southeastern ticket office staff are trained to look for the best fare for the customer. Fares are not complicated. Most people buy off peak fares which are simpler anyway, so there are few complaints. We look at any report and ensure we’re doing a good job. 100,000 people use our service daily and the vast majority make journeys which are hassle free.”

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