Train overcrowded? Why it really is a health and safety issue

It doesn't take an expert to understand that overcrowded trains are more dangerous. Imagine if the Virgin Pendolino which crashed in Cumbria three years ago had been packed down the middle when it came off the tracks at 125mph?

Surely basic common sense tells you that if the aisles on trains are packed with people standing, more people will be injured? To start with, they won't be protected by the seating around them.

What if a fire breaks out in a carriage? An overcrowded one of course takes more time to clear. I travel by train every week and regularly see people miss their stops because they can't get off the train in time.

It's not just Virgin express trains either. Services in and out of Liverpool - especially the Liverpool to Manchester route - are regularly packed.

It's widely predicted the problem will get worse over the coming years. Network Rail is predicting millions of extra rail journeys, yet there's next to no new rolling stock coming along to meet the demand.

The Association of Train Operating Companies blames the interference of civil servants when deciding what trains to order for the overcrowding. Rubbish. The fact there's chuff all incentive for the train operating companies to get new rolling stock is the problem.

For them, an overcrowded train is a profitable one. If it was a bus, there would be a limit on how many people could get on - normally a prescribed number of seats plus x number of people standing. If the driver lets more on and gets caught, he risks punishment as does the company he works for. If the bus operator wants to make money from the extra passengers, he has to lay on an extra bus.

There's no such concern for a train operator. The only limit to the number of passengers on a train is the space inside the carriage. Conductors - or train managers as they known now - see crowded trains as an easy service as it means they can't get down the carriage to check the tickets. The train operating companies then boast they are carrying more passengers than ever. And they know that in the vast majority of cases, the public travelling by train do so because they don't have another choice.

This is why we have Virgin Trains charging anyone who doesn't know the exact time they can travel in the future sky-high amounts. Peak time trains from London to Liverpool now run from just after 3pm until almost 7pm now. Guess what the result of that is - packed trains just before and just after peak time, but generally comfortable ones during peak hours for those who can afford it.

Northern Rail, the company which runs many of the services on the City line in and out of Liverpool and across the North West, continues to rely on aging rolling stock which leaks, is uncomfortable and is generally overcrowded. Why? Because there is no incentive for them to introduce new rolling stock. They receive a whopping subsidy to provide the services, but there's precious little reason for them to deliver a quality of service.

Earlier last week, MPs warned that overcrowding would get worse and that fares would have to go up to meet demand.

There's an arrogance within the train industry, embodied by ATOC, that as long as passenger numbers keep going up, they're doing their job well. They aren't.

The Government would be wise to listen to Ellman. The previous government often failed to, and the result is a rail system which is now design to serve the needs of big business, rather than the nation as a whole.

And in the case of overcrowded trains, it really is profit before safety.