Britain's trains overcrowded, overpriced, delayed

Some of Britain's major rail routes will be operating at 208 percent of their capacity by 2022, according to official data compiled by the Labour party that reveals just how chronic the overcrowding has become on the nation's most popular services.

The overcrowding on Britain's busiest trains will get even worse over the next three years, Labour has warned.

A study of government figures found the most overcrowded services were on average 187 percent of capacity in 2017, an increase of 25 percent since 2011.

Meanwhile, the number of cancelled or significantly late trains was at the highest level in 17 years, according to separate statistics from the Office of Rail and Road.

The data was highlighted as protests were held at rail stations across the country on Wednesday against New Year fare rises that have added an average of 3.1 percent to the cost of tickets in England and Wales.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: "Under the Tories, fares have risen three times faster than average wages, and severe disruption has blighted the network, meaning services are often delayed or cancelled, which in turn has led to overcrowding.

"It's outrageous that passengers will be hit with yet another above-inflation fares rise following such a miserable year on the railway. Making passengers pay more to travel on increasingly overcrowded trains is simply not sustainable."

Rail union leaders, politicians and campaigners were protesting outside stations across the country including London King's Cross, Cardiff, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham.

Jeremy Corbyn, who attended a fares protest outside London's King's Cross station, said a Labour government would improve services and bring down costs by renationalising the railways.

The Labour leader added: "All public transport is subsidised in one form or another, and there is a public good from it. No other country in the world has a transport system that sits completely alone."

The report says overcrowding on the top ten busiest services rose by 4.04 percent on average from 2011 to 2016.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blamed trade unions for the price increases. "The reality is the fare increases are higher than they should be because the unions demand – with threats of national strikes, but they don't get them – higher pay rises than anybody else," he told BBC Radio 4's Today program. The UK's Department for Transport states: "We are investing £48billion into modernising our rail network, to relieve overcrowding and deliver significant improvements in performance, punctuality and capacity."