A TRAIN journey to Clacton had 50 per cent more passengers then it should have.

Information from the Department for Transport reveals the 6.22pm from London Liverpool Street to Clacton was the fourth most crowded journey across the country last autumn.

The train was 265 passengers above its capacity of 524.

The overcrowding was set out in a response to a Freedom of Information request about train capacities.

The figures also show in May this year the Clacton train was regularly running at 7 per cent above its capacity.

John Smock, chairman of Ontrack Rail Users’ Association, which represents the branch line to Clacton, was not surprised.

He said: “There are often people standing to Chelmsford and Witham. There is a big issue about having decent travelling environments, compared with other railway lines.”

Mr Smock said he wanted more spacious trains to be introduced, offering more leg room and storage space.

He said although more carriages were being introduced in the coming months, they were second-hand trains which did not reach the standards passengers thought satisfactory.

He said: “It is a quick fix. Although there will be more seats, they will still be very cramped.”

Peter Meades, a spokesman for National Express, said improvements announced in April would have an impact on overcrowding. He said: “These improvements will result in an extra 188 carriages being added to National Express East Anglia services between December 2010 and December 2012.

“This represents a 17 per cent increase in our train fleet and increasing capacity into Liverpool Street at peak times by an additional 11,000 seats.

“From December 2009, we are planning to add additional carriages to the 6.22pm Liverpool Street to Clacton service, increasing this to a 12 carriage train.”