Commuters ‘packed in like sardines’ on Merseyrail train ask: ‘where are the six carriage trains?’

Frustrated commuters ‘packed in like sardines’ on Merseyrail services have been left wondering: “Where are the six carriage trains?”

Images from a passenger on board a train from Waterloo to Moorfields show commuters with standing room only and users of the Northern line service have expressed their frustration at a lack of extra carriages on the line at peak times.

One morning commuter said they had needed to spend money on taxis into work having not been able to board a service as it was oversubscribed.

David Lynch said: “The morning rail service from Waterloo to Moorfields between 8am and 9am is absolutely shocking. It’s now becoming a regular occurrence that people can’t even get on these three carriage trains when trying to get to work. If you are lucky enough to get on a train everyone is packed like sardines even down the aisles.”

Mr Lynch said had been forced to spend out on taxis to work having been unable to get onboard a train. He added: “Everyone at Waterloo is fed up with these three carriage trains as they are not sufficient for the amount of people trying to get on them.

“Until these new four carriage trains are running on this line, where are the old six carriage trains from the other lines?” The train user added how he wasn’t the only person in his household being impacted by the inconsistencies in the service.

He said: “My partner also has the same issues when using this service and we both are now being forced to look at alternative travel once our rail passes expire in order to get to work on time without the morning stress caused by Merseyrail. The morning train service from Waterloo to Moorfields is absolutely shocking and something needs to be done about it immediately, apologies from Merseyrail are just not good enough, why should the people at Waterloo suffer this every day, it’s not right.”

In a statement, Stephen Dodd, Merseyrail’s Chief Operating Officer said: “We are sorry that several trains on the Southport line have been busier than usual recently. We closely monitor passenger volumes, especially during the busy autumn period.

“Every available train is being utilised to help ensure we can get people to where they need to be across the Liverpool City Region. I’d like to reassure our customers that we are continuing to monitor numbers and where we have trains available, we will operate six car services.”