Overcrowding on trains is increasing across England and Wales, with as many as one in three passengers arriving into London on peak time services each morning unable to find a seat.

 

At Blackfriars station last year an average of 35% of passengers were standing on trains, an increase of 8% on the year before. At Moorgate 32% were standing on their way into work (up 5%), at Waterloo it was 31% (up 1.7%) and at St Pancras International the figure was 25% (up 3%).

 

Official figures released on Thursday also show that in both Birmingham and Leeds 14% of morning peak passengers were standing (up around 2%). For Cardiff and Manchester the figure was around 12%. 

 

On a typical autumn weekday last year there were 581,000 passengers arriving into London during the morning peak, an increase of 3.2% since 2014. Birmingham had the next largest number of arrivals at 42,900.

 

Campaign for Better Transport spokesman Lianna Etkind said: “Rail passengers are paying record amounts for their tickets and it's not acceptable that so many regularly have to stand. They have every right to be outraged at the levels of overcrowding.

 

“In the next few years revenue from tickets will exceed the cost of running the railways. The millions who rely on the trains want a commitment from the Government that there will be long term investment in rail capacity. This mustn't just mean big ticket projects like HS2 and Crossrail 2, but better services right across the country.”

 

Transport Focus passenger director David Sidebottom said: “Overcrowding is a daily struggle for many commuters. In the long term we need a big increase in capacity. This means continued investment in new and longer trains to meet existing demand, as well as ensuring that overcrowding doesn’t get worse as passenger numbers continue to increase.”

 

London TravelWatch chief executive Janet Cooke said: “The picture these figures paint will come as no surprise to long suffering commuters, the majority of whom have no real alternative to travelling by train if they work in central London.

 

“These figures show how important it is to improve compensation for passengers as well as longer term investments in capacity.”

 

Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: “These statistics reveal the unprecedented scale of passenger demand, with journeys doubling in the past 20 years. We are investing a record £40Bn into the network to address this, delivering 3700 extra carriages by 2019 and providing a huge boost to capacity through programmes like HS2, Crossrail and the £6.5Bn Thameslink programme.

 

(Photo: Network Rail)