ANGRY commuters are demanding action to ease congestion on overcrowded commuter trains in Tandridge.
Passengers – especially those travelling into London between 7am and 9am – say they feel jammed into trains "like sardines", with less space than animals going to slaughter.
And they are calling for more carriages.
In a survey conducted by the Mirror, almost everyone our reporter spoke to said they were upset, angry, or both about the condition of the Southern trains they were forced to use in their daily commute.
Benjamin Muddle, 28, of Brassey Road, gave a typical response.
He said: "Most mornings I have to barge my way onto the train and it makes me so stressed even before I get to work.
"We suffer from being shoved like cattle every day. It makes me so tense.
"We are crammed in like sardines."
Others felt even more strongly, saying passengers had to resort to actually pushing their way onto the train past other travellers.
Frank Embers, 52, of Bluehouse Lane, said: "There is a lot of pushing and shoving trying to climb onto the train in the morning, and the evening ones aren't that much better.
"Even getting to the station earlier doesn't always guarantee a seat."
Victoria Hilditch, 27, used to commute from Woldingham every day for nine months.
She said: "I think animals going to slaughter have more space rights. Once I was stuck for four hours on a packed train with no electricity or air con in the heat of summer. People were undressing."
And Eddie Vermeer, 37, has been getting the train to London Bridge from East Grinstead – which passes through Oxted – every morning for two and a half years.
He said: "I am lucky and have a seat, but anyone getting on at later stations doesn't get value for money – it's packed like sardines.
Jonathan Jensen, who also gets the train from Oxted to London, added: "Seats are getting increasingly hard to find at Oxted. Plus Southern Rail UK's diesel rolling stock shortage is a big problem."
In its defence, Southern Rail said it operated one of the busiest networks in the UK, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to do more.
A spokesman said: "Providing extra capacity for our passengers can be challenging. We know that some of our services are busier than we, and our passengers, would like, and we are constantly looking at ways to increase capacity.
"The 7.06am Oxted to London Bridge service is an 11-car train which originates in East Grinstead, and from December will be increased to a 12-car train to help ease overcrowding.
"Unfortunately the 7.18am service originates from Uckfield, which is a part of our network which isn't electrified, and is made up of six cars of our Class 171 diesel units.
"We are unable to strengthen this service as we have a limited number of diesel units, all of which are in service during the morning peak."
