COMMUTERS in Southampton are travelling on one of the country’s most crowded trains, it has been revealed.

The South West Trains 6.51am service from Southampton Airport Parkway to London Waterloo has been named and shamed as the ninth most overcrowded peak train service in England and Wales.

That is according to figures released by the Department for Transport which reveal that some of the nation’s services are carrying more than twice as many people as they should at peak times.

The figures revealed that 973 passengers cram on to the 6.51am service at its most crowded point – 375 more than its 598 capacity.

But the report stresses that South West Trains is introducing a number of initiatives across the network to address crowding on its services.

Rail minister Paul Maynard said: “These statistics reveal the unprecedented scale of passenger demand, with journeys doubling in the past 20 years.”

He said £40 billion was being invested into the network to deliver 3,700 extra carriages by 2019 and added: “These projects will inevitably cause some disruption while they are carried out, which is why we have capped regulated rail fares at RPI + 0 per cent for this parliament and why we are working hard with Network Rail and train operators to ensure that any inconvenience is minimised.”

But David Sidebottom, of the Transport Focus group, said: “Overcrowding is a daily struggle for many commuters. In the long term we need a big increase in capacity.”