RAIL operator c2c has seen a massive spike in complaints since introducing its new timetable in December.

The Commute London website and app scours social media to analyse the number of tweets mentioning all rail operators calling at London stations.

Their figures show a 30,000 increase in tweets mentioning c2c in January, compared to the same month last year. *2015* It also shows 10,441 people tweeted about the operator between November 30 and December 14, just before the timetable change, compared to 17,767 from January 4 to 17 this year.

Commuters were angered when a member of c2c’s social media team tweeted that the company were receiving a similar number of tweets and complaints now, compared to before the new timetable was introduced, only for Commute London to post their figures in reply.

But c2c confirmed yesterday *wed* it is now receiving more complaints and tweets than before the changes.

On its Twitter account, the operator apologised for the “confusion” caused by its initial message.

But the correction was not greeted kindly by other social media users.

Passenger Karl Lansley wrote: “What a backtrack! Now been officially caught out!”

Another user added: “You know, if you were just honest in the first place, you wouldn't create half as many problems for yourselves.”

Commute London provides real time feedback about people’s experiences and compares the social media activity to that of a normal day.

After the new timetable was introduced in December, c2c’s rating on Commute London plummeted from a regular five-star service to just two stars.

Commuters have complained of overcrowding, shorter trains, longer journeys and increased stops at east London stations.

A protest was staged at London Fenchurch Street in January and Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West, has even taken the fight for c2c to revert back to their old timetable to the House of Commons.