Train firms told to tell customers which services are most crowded
COMMUTERS should be told which train services are the most overcrowded, rail minister Norman Baker has said to operating companies.
Baker has written to all train operators calling on them to give each train a red, amber or green rating to allow passengers to avoid the most cramped services where possible.
“Publication of train-by-train crowding information is, in the short term, an important tool for allowing passengers to make informed choices about which trains to travel on, and convincing those passengers who can change their travel patterns to do so,” he said yesterday.
Figures released by the Department for Transport last month showed that one in five commuters are forced to stand during the London rush hours.
London Midland already produces posters telling passengers which trains are expected to be the busiest, which Baker said was “helping to smooth the peaks in demand for their services”.