Commuter anger soars

A major new poll today reveals growing commuter anger at rising fares and overcrowding on trains in London and the South-East.

According to the survey nearly half of all regular passengers are so unhappy with the service they claim they would consider voting against the Government on the issue in the general election. The YouGov poll of more than 2,000 people was conducted last month by the environmental pressure group Transport 2000.

Stephen Joseph, the group's director, said: "Fares are already increasing in real terms and reports suggest that large increases may be in the pipeline.

"Meanwhile, overcrowding is increasing on many lines and that's before the impact of John Prescott's housebuilding plans."

These include building tens of thousands of homes at Ashford in Kent, served by the most crowded commuter lines in the UK.

Of those polled, which included people who did not commute every day, 27 per cent said rising fares and over-crowding could cause them to switch votes at the next election. But the figure rose to 46 per cent among those who have to use the trains every day. Almost half of those who said they would change parties because of poor conditions on the railways were in the 18-29 age group.

And 35 per cent of Londoners and 26 per cent of those in the rest of the South-East said poor conditions on the trains would cause them to switch votes.

This raises the prospect of transport becoming a key election issue in outer London-and suburban seats in the South-East commuter heartlands.

The Government has highlighted the record investment of £5 billion a year being spent on the railways.

Last week Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said: "We believe the changes we are making are right and will lead to a better service for passengers, and that is happening." But he added: "The travelling public are rightly impatient for change."

Commuters face years of inf lation-busting fare rises and there is no prospect that overcrowding will get better in the short term. Between 30 and 50 per cent more people will use the network in the next decade.

Lines serving London are packed to capacity and cannot take any more trains. Across the UK network one in five trains runs late, though on some London commuter routes the figure is one in four.

Mr Joseph said: "Unless the Government comes forward with a vision for the railways it could face defeats in key commuter constituencies.

"Ignoring discontent among passengers could even derail an overall Labour victory."