The Department for Transport has published a list of the ten most overcrowded trains in England and Wales in 2014.
The list covers arrivals into 11 major cities during morning peak hours (07.00 – 09.59) and departures from these cities during the evening peak hours (1600 18.59) on typical weekdays for franchised operators.
The list reveals the top 10 most crowded trains in England and Wales in 2014 (file picture)
It includes trains which originate and terminate in Edinburgh and Glasgow and the passenger load figure is the (manual) count at the busiest point on each service.
The top 10 are:
- 04.22 from Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport (standard class peak capacity of 355 people on train designed for 191)
- 16.00 from Manchester Airport to Edinburgh (standard class peak capacity of 353 people on train designed for 191)
- 06.31 from Reading to London Paddington (standard class peak capacity of 646 people on train designed for 367)
- 07.57 from London Heathrow to London Paddington (standard class peak capacity of 814 people on train designed for 476)
- 07.02 from Reading to London Paddington (standard class peak capacity of 977 people on train designed for 596)
- 06.35 from Caterham to Victoria Central (standard class peak capacity of 704 people on train designed for 430)
- 07.24 from Brighton to Bedford (standard class peak capacity of 1,150 people on train designed for 716)
- 18.00 from Manchester Airport to Edinburgh (standard class peak capacity of 307 people on train designed for 191)
- 07.32 from Woking to London Waterloo (standard class peak capacity of 1,180 people on train designed for 738)
- 07.02 from Woking to London Waterloo (standard class peak capacity of 1,169 people on train designed for 738)
Surprisingly, the top two stations do not go through London, which appears to be somewhat at odds with a further release, which states overall peak crowding was higher in London than in other cities in England and Wales during 2014.
It adds 139,000 passengers were standing at trains’ busiest points on arrival into London during the morning peak, equal to 22% of all passengers.
"I know how frustrated customers are with overcrowding, and I expect the rail industry, including operators, to continue to develop innovative proposals to meet the capacity challenge head on," Rail Minister Claire Perry told the BBC.
"We are investing £38bn in the railways for the five years until 2019, underpinned by flagship schemes like the Intercity Express and Thameslink programmes to provide more space and more seats on trains."