Airport train service ‘most overcrowded’
A TRAIN service to Manchester Airport was the most-overcrowded route in Britain last year, says the Labour Party.
The 4.22am train from Glasgow Central to the airport had twice the number of passengers as the service was designed to carry, it said
Overcrowding on trains has hit one of its highest levels and is set to get worse, Labour has claimed.
A study by the party suggested that the most overcrowded train routes are on average 187 per cent over capacity.
Overcrowding on peak train routes will increase in the coming years, it predicted.
Last year also saw cancellations or significantly late services at their highest level in 17 years, the study indicated.
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: “Under the Tories, fares have risen three times faster than average wages and severe disruption has blighted the network, meaning services are often delayed or cancelled, which in turn has led to overcrowding.
“It’s outrageous that passengers will be hit with yet another aboveinflation fares rise following such a miserable year on the railway.
“Making passengers pay more in real terms to travel on increasingly overcrowded trains is simply not sustainable.
“The government’s blind obsession with privatisation is putting the future of the railway at risk.
“Labour will do what’s best for passengers and taxpayers by taking the railway back into public ownership in order to improve services and cap fares.”
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: “We know people want more comfortable journeys and money from fares is crucial to underpinning over £13bn of private sector investment in 7,000 new and refurbished-likenew carriages.
“This will mean more seats, airconditioning, WiFi and improved accessibility for millions of people right across Britain.”
Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which is involved in a longrunning dispute over guards on trains, said: “The last thing we need on Britain’s rammed out and overcrowded trains is to be axing safetycritical staff and that is why RMT will be continuing the fight for the guard guarantee on Northern and South Western Railways into the New Year.
“Services are at breaking point and in those dangerous conditions removing the staff who are the eyes and ears of the service is gross negligence.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are investing £48 billion into modernising our rail network, to relieve overcrowding and deliver significant improvements in performance, punctuality and capacity.”