THE standing room on trains passing through Warrington's railway stations has been put under the microscope by passenger watchdogs.

The Rail Passengers Committee (RPC) has called for urgent action by railway operators to provide more carriages on trains to deal with over-crowding on railways in the north west.

In a recently published report by the RPC, Standing Room Only: Overcrowding on Railways, the group draws attention to a number of overcrowding problems, with some trains loaded to double their capacity and examples of passengers being left behind at stations as a result. The evidence was gathered by surveys conducted on trains and at stations on key commuter routes including Warrington's Bank Quay and Central stations.

In a survey of the Frodsham to Manchester Piccadilly train, peak loadings occurred between Runcorn East and Warrington Bank Quay. And on a survey of the Bangor to Piccadilly line, 29 people had to stand after joining at Bank Quay.