Thameslink compares its own performance to Poundland cooking chocolate

Govia Thameslink Railway, which also runs Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern rail brands, has faced heavy criticism for its performance since new timetables were introduced last week.

The company has apologised to passengers and has introduced a reduced timetable for Great Northern and Thameslink networks.

More than 7,000 people have signed a petition calling for GTR to have its contract removed immediately.

And the situation was not improved when Thameslink’s Twitter account described how its services are ‘less Ferrero Rocher and more Poundland cooking chocolate’ on Wednesday.

Austin Cooke, Poundland’s retail director, said in response: “We couldn’t help but notice that your Twitter team described your failure to provide an adequate service as ‘Poundland’ cooking chocolate.

“Aside from the breach of our trademark, we think you’re taking the biscuit.”

He added: “Frankly you have no right to use our name to describe poor service. We served eight million shoppers last week and didn’t have to close any store due to leaves on the roof, the wrong kind of rain, or a shortage of managers.

“In fact, our Welshpool store flooded and our store colleagues stood at the entrance to help customers get their shopping, so we stayed open.

“We think we have a pretty good idea about what great customer service is compared to most rail companies.

“But if we ever fall short, perhaps we’ll describe ourselves as a bit Thameslink.”