Nikhil Patel says he has never gotten a seat on the 5.46pm train from London Euston to Crewe, the service identified as England busiest commuter trains and measured at a 170% load factor. He said he stands even when he arrives early, on a journey he uses while commuting back and forth to the capital for a computer science internship.
The Department for Transport recorded that load factor last autumn. London Northwestern Railway said the number of seats later rose from 460 to 812, but commuters still described the evening service as crowded enough that people stood in gangways on the two-hour-plus trip.
London Euston station
Patel said the train can break down into more than simple crowding. “There’s been a couple of times where everyone’s boarded and then the train’s been cancelled and we all had to get off,” he said. He also described one journey home that took five hours after a delay caused him to miss a connecting train.
Daniel Garrill gave a similar account of the service. “I know I’m going to be sitting in some dodgy spot,” he said, adding that there is “nowhere to put your bag either.” He said he uses the train regularly and has never got a seat during the week.
London Northwestern Railway
The service is operated by London Northwestern Railway and is the busiest commuter-only journey in England and Wales according to Department for Transport figures. It is also the second busiest commute overall, behind a morning Thameslink service from Bedford to Three Bridges.
That ranking helps explain why the evening train draws passengers who are trying to keep costs down. Akshay Vaghela, who said he is commuting to Rugby, called the train cheaper than the shorter Avanti service also heading to Crewe.
Vaghela said he is forced to stand half the time and is more often than not resigned to finding a seat on the floor. He described the conditions as “stuffy, hot and sweaty” and said, “Unless you’ve got water, you’re struggling until you get home.”
Crewe and London
The seat increase from 460 to 812 shows more capacity has been added, but the 170% load factor suggests demand was still running far above available space when the Department for Transport measured it. For people boarding at London Euston for the run to Crewe, the practical question is not whether the train exists, but whether there will be any place to sit or even stand without being pushed into a gangway.
Patel’s account points to the same answer for regular users: the extra seats have not yet changed the experience described by passengers on the service. The next issue for them is whether that larger seating count has begun to ease the crush on the 5.46pm departure.
