Responding to the latest figures on overcrowded train services, a spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said:
“Faster trains and better services are attracting record numbers of people to the railways. But the flip side is overcrowding and we understand passengers’ frustration when they can’t get a seat.
“Train companies now run 20% more services a day than at the start of privatisation but there are limitations to what they can do. In recent years, too much involvement by civil servants has too often held up the delivery of new carriages and limited operators’ ability to plan for and respond to overcrowding.
“It’s good news that the coalition government is investing in over 2,500 new carriages and has pledged to introduce more flexible franchises that will allow operators to respond better to overcrowding.
“Train companies will work with the Government to ensure additional carriages are delivered in a way that benefits passengers and provides taxpayers with value for money.”
Why to the TOCs continually say the increase in volumes is because of their wonderful service, faster trains, more trains, etc. The trains per passenger have gone down, and the reason most people are commuting by train is hardly choice – congestion charging, petrol prices, parking prices, extra yellow lines, etc make it impossible to do anything but take the train for most passengers.
Please don’t treat us as idiots. We know it is bad. We know it has got worse. We know the TOCs are robbing us blind with unacceptable/unjustifiable annual increases. We only travel by train because we have no other viable option. Period.