Our role in relation to station and train crowding

Key messages:

1. We oversee several obligations that companies have to their customers, including making sure the railway is accessible for all.
2. We are responsible for making sure passengers are protected by railway companies from any health and safety risks, such as crowding.
3. Where safety risks from crowding are being well-managed and operators are meeting their obligations to customers, we do not have the powers to take further action.

Passengers

Crowding is a feature of many rail journeys and ORR takes passenger concerns about crowding seriously. Our health and safety position statement on crowding  makes clear that there is an interrelationship between health, safety and wellbeing. ORR takes a holistic view of crowding across our health, safety and consumer protection functions.

We support passengers making full use of the channels available to them to raise concerns about crowding. Any complaints should be submitted directly to train or station operators in the first instance, via the complaint process that is advertised on the operator’s website and at stations. If a passenger is not satisfied with the response from the operator, they can then refer the complaint to the Rail Ombudsman. If the complaint relates to a Transport for London (TfL) or Eurostar service, complaints should be directed to the operator and then to London Travel Watch.

Passengers can also take steps to reduce risks and the negative effects on their own and fellow passengers’ wellbeing by practising good travel etiquette. This includes the need to keep luggage away from aisles and off seats, and to prepare for crowding in advance, especially by carrying water during journeys in the summer months. The Coronavirus pandemic may have had a lasting effect on the way some passengers perceive crowding on trains and their expectations from operators and fellow passengers.

Some train operators are using technology to provide up to date information about their busiest services and carriages, which can be helpful for passengers to use, particularly those that are more affected by crowding scenarios. Passengers should remain alert in crowds and supportive of more vulnerable fellow passengers and always stand behind the yellow line markings at the train station platform edge. 

Importantly, all passengers must take responsibility to avoid any feelings of stress from being in a crowded situation spilling over into confrontations with, or abuse towards, frontline railway staff or other travellers.

Train and station operators should set out and comply with an Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) as approved by ORR. It is best practice for operators to actively consider the impact of crowding in their ATPs and how these are applied. For example, this could include how information about access to accessible toilets on crowded services is communicated. In accordance with our ATP requirements for operators, staff training includes hearing from disabled people about their experience of using the railway.

Train and station operators

Train and station operators should continue to comply with their health and safety responsibilities to protect passengers from risks on crowded trains and at stations, so far as is reasonably practicable. Although the health and safety risks from crowding are generally well-managed, improvements can still be made. For example:

1. The industry is encouraged to further acknowledge and take action wherever practicable to reduce the negative effects from crowding on passenger wellbeing.
2. We encourage train and station operators to apply recognised good practice in planning for, and safely managing, a wide range of crowding scenarios. Operators’ plans should clearly set out how crowding hazards have been identified, and wherever reasonably practicable reduced, including consideration of crowding’s negative effects on passengers. Operators’ planning and management should cover predictable or known events (such as sporting fixtures or station construction projects), as well as unplanned or emergency situations. All scenarios require competent and trained staff to manage any crowding risks that might arise.
3. When there is a passenger safety-related incident, such as slips, trips and falls, operators should ensure they consider whether crowding either caused or contributed to it, and record that accurately.
4. All operators should monitor and continuously improve their crowding planning, procedures and processes in the light of their learning about its effectiveness. Planning should relate to the ‘real world’, reflecting each operator’s stations or services at different times and under both routine and non-routine scenarios.
5. We expect operators to consider the timing and content of passenger information to mitigate the risk of crowding. Information shared with passengers about crowding conditions can help inform their decisions, including, for example, clear wayfinding signage to improve passenger flows.
6. Railway Inspectors will examine the plans, procedures and processes of operators, including the control measures operators have implemented to mitigate the health and safety risks connected to crowding.

Who monitors crowding?

The Department for Transport (DfT) publishes rail passenger numbers and crowding statistics.

DfT's contact details:

Public enquiries
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 0300 330 3000
Contact DfT using their online form