It has been revealed that First Great Western has some of the worst feedback among its online customers.

In a study of responses on social media site Twitter, it was found 36 per cent of the tweets relating to the train operator were negative.

This figure was joint highest with South West Trains.

The study was carried out by social media company Brandwatch, which analysed 92,000 tweets across a number of train companies. It had been commissioned to examine customer feedback along the country’s 10 busiest commuter lines.

But First Great Western welcomed the feedback and said the figures show social media is a good way of monitoring customer opinions.

A spokesman said: “The figure shown is much lower than some of the main global brands in other industries, so it is important not to focus purely on the negative.

“These results show that more than 60 per cent of the feedback we receive is either positive or neutral. We actively put ourselves out there and encourage our customers to give us feedback.”

Throughout the study, the main focus of customers’ complaints towards train companies was punctuality, air conditioning and broken trains.

First Great Western, which uses the Twitter hashtag @FGW, regularly uses Twitter to respond to customers’ queries and complaints.

The account is manned between 7am and 10pm and more than 100,000 tweets have been posted.

The spokesman said: “Twitter is a really useful tool by which we can respond quickly to customers’ concerns and questions and we promote it as such.

“Much of the negative feedback is something which is happening to a customer there and then.”

Brandwatch said the study was not meant as an attack on train operators but was simply a way of looking at customer responses overall.

Joel Windels, of Brandwatch, said: “We were asked to look at the 10 busiest lines and analyse the feedback from the customers.

“The social team at First Great Western do a great job and this is not meant as an insult.”