Overcrowding crisis on our trains

12:30am Wednesday 11th July 2007

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Oxford commuters suffer some of the most overcrowded trains in the country, new figures have confirmed.

First Great Western (FGW) trains to and from the capital were so crammed that a third of passengers were forced to stand on some services.

Of the worst 10 in London and the South East, the busiest part of the rail network, three are services for Oxford.

The figures, from the Department of Transport, show that the 6.14am Oxford to Paddington service was the second most overcrowded train on the network last year. It has seating for 321 but had 482 passengers, a load of 150 per cent of the seats.

The 5.52pm Paddington to Worcester service, which stops in Oxford, is just as bad. It can seat 242 people yet takes 362, again 150 per cent of its load.

There was marginally more breathing space on the 6.06pm Paddington to Oxford train. It could cater for 270 people with there were another 129 passengers standing, 148 per cent.

We travelled on the 5.52 service between Paddington and Oxford last night and commuters were standing in the aisles. Many said this was the norm for them on the journey home.

Mark Maddox, 43, from south Oxford, said: "It can get jam packed with people standing in the carriageways and the vestibules. Sometimes you can't even get to the exits."

Roger Finnan, 29, from Cowley, said: "The number of times that I'm standing on this train far outnumbers the times I get a seat. It's disgusting considering the price of tickets."

Rail campaigners, including Oxfordshire MP Ed Vaizey, have said they are not surprised by the findings.

But Mr Vaizey, who is due to meet FGW again at the end of July, said refurbished trains offered light at the end of the tunnel.

He said: "By December, all high speed trains will have a new seating configuration. The smaller Adelante trains will be replaced by high speed trains that will have increased seating capacity"

First Great Western spokesman Adrian Ruck said increasing capacity on existing services was the main way the company was combating the problems.

He said said the company's high speed trains were being fitted with airline style seating that would increase capacity by 33.

Train services between Oxfordshire and London Paddington were disrupted yesterday morning following a major signalling failure. It was fixed by 6.15am and services ran as normal during the morning rush hour.

In another development, Sir Richard Branson's rail company Virgin Trains has lost the Cross Country rail franchise, part of which goes through Oxford and Banbury.

Virgin was beaten by the Arriva Group which will take over on November 11.