Global Markets
Home›Global Markets›Europe›England and Wales commuter rail overcrowding eases sli…
England and Wales commuter rail overcrowding eases slightly in 2025
The Department for Transport said only 1.1% of peak-time passengers rode on overcrowded trains, and 16,800 passengers a day traveled above capacity on average.
England and Wales saw a slight easing in commuter train overcrowding in autumn 2025, with the Department for Transport (DfT) reporting the share of peak-time travelers on overcrowded services fell, marking the first decline since 2020, according to BBC Business.
The most overcrowded service was a Thameslink morning rush hour route between Bedford and Three Bridges in West Sussex, followed by a West Midlands service from London Euston to Crewe that departed at 17:46. The DfT said load factors reached 176% at London St Pancras shortly after 08:00 on the Thameslink route, with 170% on the Euston-to-Crewe service, and a Transport for Wales Bridgend-to-Rhymney run ranking third at a 161% load factor.
Overall, the DfT reported that overcrowding fell slightly versus autumn 2024, with an average of 16,800 passengers a day traveling in excess of capacity, representing a 1% increase above capacity. It said more than 1.2 million of the average 1.9 million journeys on a typical autumn day involved London, and it estimated that 98.9% of passengers typically travel on services that are not overcrowded.
The DfT attributed the improvement to increased capacity and said work is under way to address peak-hour pinch points. A quarter of passengers traveling into and out of London at peak times had to stand, while in other cities only 5% could not get a seat, and operators including Thameslink and South Western Railway pointed to added carriages and nearly 30% capacity gains through new trains.