Eleven key train stations, including several in London, have been listed as needing action to ease overcrowding.
The Network Rail (NR) list includes the London stations of Victoria, Fenchurch Street and Charing Cross as well as Liverpool’s Lime Street.
The 11-strong list also includes Basingstoke in Hampshire, Bristol Parkway, Clapham Junction in south London, Preston, Surbiton in south-west London, Watford Junction in Hertfordshire and Wimbledon in south-west London.
In a report, NR said action should be taken to identify the measures needed to relieve passenger congestion at the 11 stations by 2019.
NR also listed 12 stations with long-term plans which would deal with congestion but which might not be fully committed or developed.
The report suggested various measures to ease congestion, ranging from “soft” options, such as encouraging more print-at-home ticketing or relocating information points, to more expensive options involving provision of additional space.
NR said on-train counting systems already existed but with varying degrees of sophistication. It added that the rail industry did not routinely or systematically count the number of non-travellers at stations.
But NR added: “There is not a direct correlation between the number of station users and the level of congestion observed. So merely analysing which stations have the greatest numbers of users will not of itself highlight where crowding is a particular difficulty.”
A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “Train companies recognise that passengers do not want to travel through very busy stations, and are working with NR, which owns the train stations in Britain, to reduce congestion as much as possible.
“As NR’s report identifies, millions are to be invested at key stations to fund improvements including bigger concourses and longer platforms. In addition, train companies continue to work hard to relieve congestion at the stations they manage, according to passenger needs and local circumstances.”
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