Overcrowding hits 250% on busiest rail routes, says transport department

Commuters crowding on to a train at Victoria station, but they have little prospect of a seat at peak times
Commuters crowding on to a train at Victoria station, but they have little prospect of a seat at peak times
KEITH LARBY/ALAMY

Almost 170,000 commuters are being forced to stand on peak-time trains into the biggest cities and there have been warnings that passengers are facing “cattle class” conditions.

Figures from the Department for Transport published yesterday showed that 169,207 people a day could not get a seat on trains into 14 cities in England and Wales during the morning peak last year. In London alone, 148,447 had to stand, representing 23 per cent of all people travelling into the capital.

More than a third of passengers — 36 per cent — had to stand on trains into Blackfriars station in the City of London, which was the most overcrowded terminus.

According to the figures, the busiest train in the country in the autumn was the 4.22am