Rail chief warns of chronic overcrowding without more stock

ONE in three commuters face travelling to work on "very overcrowded" services unless more carriages are provided, a rail boss has warned after admitting passengers are being left behind at stations because trains are full.

Northern Rail chief operating officer Steve Butcher said the scenario was "unacceptable in anyone's stretch of the imagination".

Despite being promised 182 new carriages by the previous Government, only eight have been provided and any decisions on how many more might be funded have been delayed until after next month's spending review.

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In a frank assessment of the quality of Northern Rail trains, Mr Butcher described its ageing rolling stock as "diverse" – before admitting the term was "an understatement". He said he would "not sit here and lie to you" about the quality of trains, insisting they need to be improved.

Speaking at a fringe meeting at Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, he described capacity as "the single biggest issue we face".

"We're leaving people behind on stations – and I think we have to be bold and grown up enough to understand and work through that. We have to recognise we are leaving people behind on platforms every morning because they can't physically get on trains.

"This is a situation that will only get worse. Frankly, I have to say, as a lifelong railway professional, that is unacceptable.

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"In 2009 one in six of our morning commuters travelled on a train that was very overcrowded. If we do nothing by 2014, we estimate that one in three commuters will travel on a very overcrowded train. That's unacceptable in anyone's stretch of the imagination."

Thousands of commuters across Yorkshire and the Humber rely on Northern Rail services every day. The company runs most of the region's local services including the lines linking Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Scarborough, Doncaster, Sheffield and Barnsley.

Northern Rail says increasing capacity is the key to easing overcrowding. Labour promised 182 carriages – many of which would have been handed down from other routes rather than being new – but only eight have been delivered. A promise of 1,300 carriages across the country was scaled down when ministers decided to electrify more lines, baulking at spending large sums on carriages for diesel trains that would soon become redundant.

Now the coalition is discussing its options ahead of the spending review unveiled on October 20, when the Department of Transport is likely to be ordered to make severe cuts.

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Mr Butcher said overcrowding was now the "major source of complaint" to the company which has seen its capacity rise by just 11 per cent since it was set up in 2004, while passenger numbers have risen 34 per cent.

"We also need to improve the quality of our trains. I don't think anyone can sit here – I'm certainly not going to sit here – and lie to you, the quality of our trains certainly needs improving, " he added.

"Some of our fleet, when I joined the railways 30 years ago, were being tested and introduced and fed into the industry. That makes me think we have to do something now - and I mean now - in taking this forward." He said the company is waiting for the outcome of the spending review to find out how many more carriages might be forthcoming.

Transport Minister Norman Baker said: "We're looking at a whole range of things including extra rail carriages needed and, high-speed lines."