S O U T H A M P T O N Central railway station has missed out on extra investment because passengers were found to be too satisfied with the city’s facilities.

Under a Government funding package announced last night in response to an independent review, £50m is expected to be shared among the ten “worst”

stations, as defined by a customer satisfaction survey.

The least popular station is Manchester Victoria, which achieved a satisfaction score of just 32 per cent in a “mystery shopper” assessment led by the authors of the review. It was followed by London’s Clapham Junction, with which just 39 per cent of respondents were satisfied.

At number ten was Stockport, on 50 per cent.

However, since 59 per cent of passengers in Southampton Central expressed satisfaction, leaving the city in 17th position, the station is likely to miss out on the new funding, despite the review stating it needed an upgrade.

The review was commissioned by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis after he completed a week-long, 2,200-mile fact-finding journey on 40 trains across Britain’s rail network in April - and singled out Southampton station for criticism for failing to provide him with a cup of tea.

The minister, who arrived at Southampton at 8pm on a Tuesday to change for a two-hour service to Brighton, has said he was disappointed to find no refreshments at a station used by 5.5 million passengers a year.

Writing in Parliament's inhouse journal, The House Magazine, back in April, he said: “This is the low point of the week – not even a cup of tea was to be had at Southampton at 8pm, which surely isn’t acceptable catering for a major station.”

South West Trains said at the time that, while it managed Southampton station, it had no control over the opening times of the various shops and catering outlets that sublet commercial space from the operator.

Lord Adonis said yesterday: “I was struck by the great variation in the passenger facilities at stations.

Train travel has improved a good deal in recent years, but more needs to be done to improve conditions and services.

“I want every station to be a good station – a hub of local community life and somewhere that you wouldn’t mind spending time. I support the report’s recommendations of minimum standards for stations – classed by size – in terms of information, car and bike parking, facilities and environment. I intend to make these minimum standards a requirement in future rail franchise agreements with rail operating companies.”