Crowding on trains

Passengers’ concerns about crowding are our most common complaint, particularly about commuter trains in London & the South East.

Crowding can be inconvenient, uncomfortable and lead to unpleasant travelling conditions, especially when passengers must stand very close together.

In this section

Who has responsibility for levels of crowding?

The Department for Transport (DfT) monitors the levels of crowding. They encourage train operating companies to plan their timetables to accommodate the passengers expected throughout the morning and evening peak periods. Separate regimes penalise operators for late trains or for services that do not meet the agreed timetable.

DfT’s contact details

Ministerial Liaison Team
Rail Group, Zone 5/22
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
Tel: 020-7944 6843
E-mail: rail@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Do train operating companies have to do anything about crowding?

Commuter train operators are required to carry out passenger counts to demonstrate that adequate capacity is provided. This ensures that franchised operators properly address the issue of capacity requirements in peak periods.

Train operators must agree with DfT a timetable and train plan showing the proposed allocation of rolling stock to services as necessary, to comply with a contractual limit on overcrowding over the next year and subsequently throughout the franchise term.

Where an operator of a London commuter train service exceeds levels of train crowding specified in the franchise contract, DfT can require the operator to produce an action plan for providing more capacity and alleviating overcrowding.

Are there any safety measures in place?

There is no legal limit on the number of passengers that can travel in any given train coach. In this, trains differ from other modes of transport – most notably buses and aeroplanes. The heavy engineering involved, means that trains are designed to operate effectively and safely even when they are fully loaded to maximum capacity.

The numbers of passengers on-board does not affect a train’s operating performance or its structural integrity. Other transport modes limit passenger numbers because of operational stability problems.

Although train incidents are relatively rare, it is true that the more heavily laden a train, the greater the number of passengers who are likely to be at risk in the event of an incident.

Research commissioned in 1999 confirmed that while overcrowding had led to increased numbers of injuries due to the increase in passengers, overcrowding itself did not contribute to the severity of the incident or injuries received.

The health and safety risks that arise to passengers because of crowding are normally very low. There are some areas where ORR has concerns and is involved. These include overcrowding: 

  • in emergency evacuation;
  • on platforms and stations; and
  • on underground routes in hot weather.

Last updated: 25 February 2008