Connex warning over new trains

For years London's hardpressed rail commuters have complained of being herded into carriages like animals. Now Connex, which serves the capital's busiest routes, has admitted its new trains will be like "cattle trucks".

The company is planning to bring in new trains on some of the most crowded routes from Dartford through south-east London - but Connex fears its passengers may not be impressed.

It has now distributed 100,000 consultation leaflets warning commuters what is in store.

Of the planned trains, the operator states: "Designing a cattle truck? Possibly. But the painful reality is that our peak-time passengers in south London journeys usually have to stand and may well feel like cattle. We can't find a way to make that not true."

Cynthia Hay, of passenger watchdog Capital Transport, said: "I don't believe it. Talk about customer care. If Connex provided a better service then passengers would not feel like cattle."

She said passengers "want to see a future where they don't have to stand".

Connex admits overcrowding will get worse. It carries 120,000 passengers in the morning peak and predicts this will increase to 140,000 by the end of the decade.

Of the suburban trains due to come into service by the end of 2004 to replace the slam-door stock, some of which are over 40 years old, Connex states: "We have already decided they should have fewer seats, but how? These trains need to carry the maximum number of people on short journeys, rather like a Tube train.

"Seats will need to be available for those joining the trains from the furthest stop - Dartford, 40 minutes away. But, as now, passengers will inevitably have to stand as the train draws closer to London."

Connex has written to nearly 4,000 passengers - selecting names and addresses taken from people who complained about poor service during the last year - and rail user groups, asking how the carriages should be designed. Plans include "robust and easily reachable straps and grab handles for those standing".

Among suggestions for the seating layout are "bum rests and tip-up seats near the doors" with two-by-two seating further down the carriage.

The company says: "Frankly, we have pretty much decided on developing a 'suburban' carriage with fewer seats ... it's not ideal but we think it's a reasonable way to cope with inevitable overcrowding."

Railtrack admits there is no more room to run extra trains without billions of pounds of investment in new lines.

Connex says: "We have to be honest and recognise that some of the solutions, such as infrastructure, are out of our control."

Earlier this year, as revealed in the Evening Standard, commuters were officially told there would never come a time when they would be guaranteed a seat.

And they were warned cattletruck commuting on some of the most crowded lines serving London would get even worse.

Despite paying among the highest fares in Europe, more passengers will have to stand because many of the £1 milliona-carriage trains replacing old stock have fewer seats.

Rail chiefs say so many people are travelling - government estimates show a 50 per cent increase in the next decade - that there will never be enough seats to go round, despite the multi-billion-pound spending on trains and infrastructure.

Richard Bowker, chairman of the governing Strategic Rail Authority, said: "There is never going to be a day when everybody gets a seat."

A survey revealed that record numbers of commuters are having to stand for long periods - some from as far away as Brighton, at least an hour from London. An SRA report showed that on many lines serving the capital there are far more standing than rules permit.

Wendy Toms, chairman of the Rail Passengers' Committee for Souther n England, said: "Commuters will feel betrayed that the sardine-like travelling situation is to continue. They will also be furious to learn that many of the new trains coming into service will have fewer seats."