The number of complaints made about UK rail companies has fallen dramatically in the past decade, new figures have suggested.

According to the Office of Rail Regulation, 33 grievances were aired per 100,000 passenger journeys in the last 12 months, which is a huge improvement on 2002/03, when 128 complaints were made per 100,000 people.

Although it is encouraging to see things moving in the right direction, figures from between October and December 2012 showed that there is plenty of room for improvement.

Indeed, British commuters' biggest bug bear appeared to be punctuality - or lack of it.

This accounted for 42 per cent of all complaints received, while 14 per cent of issues related to poor on-board train facilities. A further 14 per cent of negative customer feedback was linked to excessive fares.

Network Rail revealed last month that 91 per cent of trains in the UK ran on time between February 3rd and March 3rd, which was an improvement on January 2013, when 87.3 per cent of services were punctual.