London Paddington station worst for overcrowded trains

[John Ashworth]

London Paddington station worst for overcrowded trains

Transport poll shows up First Great Western services with one Reading train cramming in 610 commuters, double its capacity

James Meikle
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 August 2011 18.13 BST

Two into one will go – just. Commuters piling on to the 6.37am First Great Western service from Reading last autumn probably did not need telling they were on the most overcrowded train into London Paddington.

For parts of their 67-minute journey, there were 610 passengers in the three standard class carriages, double the official capacity.

Other commuters from down the Thames Valley were not much luckier, according to a snapshot survey released by the Department for Transport.

Rush-hour services in or out of Paddington accounted for the rest of the top 10 most-packed journeys in the south-east, all run by the same company.

The 6.37am was carrying double its load when it had a 304 capacity (a calculation which combines seats and some standing passengers), although things may have improved since, according to the government. The 6.45pm Paddington to Reading service was the second most-crowded train with 588 passengers.

In spring 2010, a comparable list of crowded trains included seven First Great Western services, with the worst its 5.02am Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington, 67% above capacity.

Overcrowding is getting worse elsewhere, according to separate figures from the Office of Rail Regulation. Outside London, Leeds had the highest percentage of standard-class passengers forced to stand, with 14% on their feet on arrival at the city centre in the morning peak last autumn and 12.1% on departing trains in the afternoon peak. For Manchester, figures were 11.1% and 11.2%.

David Sidebottom, director of the rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said: "Train companies' franchise agreements state that services need to be planned so that passengers ought not to stand for more than 20 minutes.

"The industry needs to address this by more trains and carriages, upgrading railway infrastructure such as new signal technology, track work, longer station platforms and new lines."

The rail regulator said overall crowding in London and the south-east – measured by the volume of passengers above planned capacity at peak periods – increased from 2.2% in autumn 2009 to 3% in autumn 2010. This was a return to 2008 levels. First Great Western had the highest levels of crowding (16.6%) across the morning and evening peak.

The rail minister Theresa Villiers said the government was investing to cope with overcapacity. "We have now embarked on one of the biggest programmes for a hundred years, including more than 2,700 new rail carriages, a £900m programme to electrify more rail lines, the vital Crossrail and Thameslink projects, the long-awaited tube upgrades and light rail extensions in Birmingham, Newcastle and Manchester."

She added: "Just yesterday [Wednesday] I was able to announce funding for extra carriages that will provide space for 8,800 more passengers on busy routes.

"These investments are possible because of the difficult decision we have made to increase rail fares from next year. We need to do more than just invest in the existing network. Many lines are almost full and major new capacity will be needed.

"A high-speed rail network could provide just that, freeing up space for more commuter services on the existing network as well as providing faster journeys, creating jobs and fostering regeneration."

First Great Western said the company had significantly increased capacity on many routes but added that it was difficult to keep up with demand. "Six out of the 10 train operators in the London and south-east area have had injections of rolling stock recently, so it is not surprising that they have seen improvements.

"On Wednesday, the Department for Transport approved our request for additional carriages in the Bristol area, and last year we secured the future of 30 vehicles in the west of England."

The Association of Train Operating Companies said: "Train companies now run 20% more services a day than at the start of privatisation but there are limitations to what they can do. In recent years, too much involvement by civil servants has too often held up the delivery of new carriages and limited operators' ability to plan for and respond to overcrowding."

Ten most crowded trains in London and the south-east

06.37 Reading-Paddington

18.45 Paddington-Reading

18.15 Paddington-Oxford

06.30 Bristol Temple Meads- Paddington

07.40 Reading-Paddington

06.07 Oxford-Paddington

16.57 Paddington-Reading

07.09 Oxford-Paddington

07.28 Bourne End-Paddington

17.18 Paddington-Oxford