Figures highlight problem of train overcrowding
Trains travelling in and out of Manchester are the most crowded outside London, new figures have shown.
The number of passengers using National Rail has continued to grow between 2014 and 2015, and the latest statistics show the direct impact this growth has had on levels of train crowding in a number of major cities.
On a typical autumn weekday in 2015 there were 581,400 passengers arriving into London during the morning peak, an increase of 3.2 per cent since 2014.
Birmingham, the city with the next largest number of arrivals, had 42,900.
Crowding levels at major cities rose by 0.4 percentage points in the morning peak to five per cent PiXC, (Pasengers in excess of capacity) and 0.2 percentage points in the afternoon peak to 2.4 per cent PiXC between 2014 and 2015.
Morning peak PiXC was greatest at London, at 5.8 per cent PiXC, followed by Manchester with 3.7 per cent .
Lianna Etkind, Public Transport Campaigner, Campaign for Better Transport said: “Rail passengers are paying record amounts for their tickets and it’s not acceptable that so many regularly have to stand.
“They have every right to be outraged at the levels of overcrowding.”