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Railway stations are to be ordered to keep toilets clean and offer refreshments to passengers.
Lord Adonis, the rail minister, has set up a review of stations following a six-day rail tour of Britain with low points including a tea drought at Southampton station.
He said: "The quality of stations is extremely variable and, at many major stations, the service level is often downright poor. I experienced stations where toilet facilities were closed or uncleaned, where there was a lack of refreshments or adequate bicycle or car parking facilities."
Minimum standards for keeping toilets open and offering passengers food and drink will be written into new franchise agreements, he told the National Rail Conference in London. He announced the appointment of two "stations champions" to review services in England and Wales. Sir Peter Hall, president of the Town and Country Planning Association, and Chris Green, non-executive director of Network Rail, will make recommendations for *station improvements.
Adonis said: "I don't have unreasonable expectations for stations, but it is perfectly reasonable that they should be offering essential services."
Network Rail, owner of Britain's rail infrastructure, is spending £150m on improving 150 stations and the government is planning a multimillion pound investment in ticket gates. Fare dodgers are believed to cost the industry 5% of its annual revenues – about £270m.
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