Revealed: The top 10 most crowded trains

Paying a bomb for a ticket, not getting a seat, and crouching in corners to avoid smelly armpits – this is the harsh reality of daily train commutes.

And now Department for Transport has revealed a list for the 10 most crowded trains in England and Wales for 2014.

The list includes arrivals into 11 major cities during morning peak hours (07.00 – 09.59) and departures from these cities during the evening peak hours (1600 18.59) on typical weekdays for franchised operators.

Responding to the figures, Rail Minister Claire Perry said:

“We have seen record-breaking numbers use the railways in the past year, with 1.7 billion journeys completed in 2014, more than double the number recorded a decade ago.

“To meet this unprecedented demand we are investing £38bn in the railways for the 5 years until 2019, underpinned by flagship schemes like the Intercity Express and Thameslink programmes to provide more space and more seats on trains.

“I know how frustrated customers are with overcrowding, and I expect the rail industry, including operators, to continue to develop innovative proposals to meet the capacity challenge head on.”

The top 10 most-crowded trains for 2014 were:

1. 04.22 from Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport (standard class peak capacity of 355 people on train designed for 191)

2. 16.00 from Manchester Airport to Edinburgh (standard class peak capacity of 353 people on train designed for 191)

3. 06.31 from Reading to London Paddington (standard class peak capacity of 646 people on train designed for 367)

4. 07.57 from London Heathrow to London Paddington (standard class peak capacity of 814 people on train designed for 476)

5. 07.02 from Reading to London Paddington (standard class peak capacity of 977 people on train designed for 596)

6. 06.35 from Caterham to Victoria Central (standard class peak capacity of 704 people on train designed for 430)

7. 07.24 from Brighton to Bedford (standard class peak capacity of 1,150 people on train designed for 716)

8. 18.00 from Manchester Airport to Edinburgh (standard class peak capacity of 307 people on train designed for 191)

9. 07.32 from Woking to London Waterloo (standard class peak capacity of 1,180 people on train designed for 738)

10. 07.02 from Woking to London Waterloo (standard class peak capacity of 1,169 people on train designed for 738)

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