Busiest trains carrying 40 per cent above their capacity

LONDON'S overground rail network is struggling to cope with growing passenger numbers and is set to get worse, a report warns today.

Trains on the most overcrowded routes are carrying 40 per cent more passengers than they should during the morning and evening peak periods.

The report by the London Assembly's transport committee paints a grim picture of the daily ordeal endured by half a million commuters each day.

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It warns of dangerous conditions with passengers fainting, being crushed by closing doors, falling into the gap between trains and the platform and the spread of "train rage", where arguments break out over space.

Cattle-truck conditions are worst at "pinch points" including East Croydon, Surbiton, Tottenham Hale, Forest Hill, Bromley South, Balham Clapham Junction, Finsbury Park, Sydenham, Streatham Hill and Ealing Broadway Stations. The busiest train into London is the 7.15am from Cambridge to King's Cross which has a capacity of 494 but regularly carries 870 passengers.

The economic downturn is set to make matters worse with cuts in services raising the prospect of over-crowding as far ahead as 2026. Committee chairman Val Shawcross warned that too many passengers were suffering from "dire" journeys and that urgent action was needed from the train firms, Mayor Boris Johnson and the Government.

"Being left stranded as full trains go by, or squashed up against fellow commuters inside packed carriages are common experiences for many Londoners," she said. "For London as a whole and for most individual train operating companies, significantly more passengers are travelling than the network is able to carry. In the long-term, passenger demand will continue to grow and solutions are needed to ensure sufficient capacity is available. London's future prosperity depends on it."

The inquiry found that two thirds of commuters were unhappy with the capacity on peak services. "London performs worse than other areas of the country and some services are so packed there are health and safety risks," it said.

The Office of Rail Regulation also told the committee it was worried overcrowding could endanger passengers. Worryingly, the report claimed official measures of overcrowding underestimated the true scale of the problem as trains were often already full before they reached the outskirts of the capital.

"When trains are that crowded it means there are probably five passengers squeezed into every square metre of standing space on board," it said. The report warns train firms against cutting services in the recession as this would leave the network lacking the infrastructure to increase capacity in the future.