Many commuters on trains are faced with standing room only

One of the most overcrowded lines in the country is South Central's Brighton line into London's Victoria Station.

Commuters undertaking the daily trip into work are regularly forced to stand for journeys taking more than an hour long.

In a report published on Wednesday, the House of Commons Transport Select Committe said the situation was so bad that passengers "faced daily trauma on their journeys".

It claimed commuters often could not get onto trains, and even if they could, they were often forced into "intolerable conditions".

The committee's report said the "current chronic overcrowding" in major conurbations was "unacceptable" and had to be addressed.

More lines needed

Although train companies have tried to make services more flexible, with more frequent smaller trains, campaigners say that has only made the problem worse.

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, says it is unsatisfactory.

"We shouldn't put up with it and some of the conditions in which commuters, in particular, travel in are quite unacceptable, " he said.

"We need to have more capacity, quite simply.

"That means getting more trains on existing lines by improving the signalling and improving the timekeeping of those trains which do run.

"But secondly improving the actual number of lines which we have."