Two of region's trains in top ten for overcrowding

Reading to Paddington rush hour services among worst in country, new figures reveal

TWO of the region's train services were among the top five most overcrowded in England and Wales in 2014, new figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) have revealed.

The 6.31am First Great Western service from Reading to London Paddington was the third most overcrowded train.

When counted in Autumn 2014, the service was found to be running at 76 per cent over capacity.

The 7.02 FGW service from Reading to Paddington also made the list - coming in at fifth place - at 64 per cent over capacity.

However, The DfT warns that there are problems with the reliability of the figures, in particular that standard class passengers were counted on a single day that is not necessarily representative.

It added that the passengers are counted by somebody on the train, which means human error is possible, especially on particularly crowded trains.

Former train driver and independent rail commentator for the Thames Valley, Hugh Jaeger, said: "There are simply too few trains and coaches to go around. From my point of view the government is not spending enough on getting new trains with extra coaches built to alleviate overcrowding.

"Every year the number of passengers goes up, therefore we have to increase the number of coaches every year just to stand still."