A PASSENGER group has criticised a Hampshire rail operator for cancelling thousands of services while raising its fares.

New figures show that in the past year almost 4,000 trains were axed by South West Trains, the major operator in the south of the county.

The records, which cover unplanned cancellations, do not include trains for which scheduled bus replacement services were arranged.

Reasons for cancellations can include anything from staff absence to mechanical or infrastructure failure and flooding.

The figures revealed that nationally more than 62,000 trains have been cancelled in the past year.

A breakdown showed that South West Trains cancelled 3,848 of its 563,490 planned services – a cancellation rate of 0.6 per cent.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, said: “These figures are disappointing especially as many passengers are now being asked to pay more for their rail fare.

“Passengers are also critical of how train companies deal with delays and disruptions and we call on the industry to communicate better with passengers during these times.”

Mr Smith added: “Passengers are not interested in who is to blame for delays but want to be given plenty of information about disruptions and cancellations so that they can make alternative arrangements.

“It is also vital that passengers are proactively informed about the compensation they are owed when cancellations occur.”

Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker said: “Not only do we have the most expensive railway in Europe, but passengers in Britain are expected to put up with tens of thousands of cancelled trains every year.

“The Government would rather shift costs onto passengers than pay for better services and more trains.

“We need to raise standards on the railways, with longer franchises and tough passenger satisfaction targets to bring in much needed investment.”

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc), which represents operators across the UK, said the proportion of services that were cancelled was relatively low and passengers were, on the whole, satisfied with rail services.

An Atoc spokesman said: “Cancellations amount to less than one per cent of train service numbers of the total trains planned to be run. The most recently published survey by Passenger Focus, carried out in spring 2008, showed 80 per cent of passengers were satisfied overall by their journey. Those figures will be confirmed in a new survey out soon. Despite cancellations, the level of satisfaction is high.”