Busiest train had more than two passengers for every seat

♦britain’s busiest trains are carrying two passengers for every available seat, new figures show.

A train arriving at Manchester Oxford Road station at 8.24am was the most overcrowded in England and Wales, statistics from the Department for Transport have revealed.

Data from autumn 2017 showed that 403 people were squeezed into the four carriages, containing just 191 seats, of the 4.22am service to Manchester Airport from Glasgow Central. Its load factor of 211 per cent was the highest of any service.

Other figures in the report show that trains in London are getting less crowded as people opt to work from home to avoid travelling. On an average morning rush hour last year, 577,200 people took a train into London – down from 583,400 in 2016.

John Preston, professor of rail transport at Southampton University, says the drop is partly due to people looking to avoid “the stresses of commuting”.