AN EVENING commuter train from London Paddington to Oxford has been revealed as one of most overcrowded in the country.

The 5.18pm was the seventh most crowded service last year according to figures released by the Department for Transport.

The Great Western Railway train has capacity for 242 passengers but is typically packed with more than 440 people heading home each day.

In 2015 the 7.34am from Didcot Parkway to London Paddington featured in the top 10 before GWR put on extra carriages, which eased the problem and saw it vanish from the list for the second half of the year.

The most overcrowded train in 2016 was the 7.16am East Grinstead to London Bridge service which carries more than 1,300 people despite having a capacity of 640.

Lianna Etkind, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "The latest statistics show that overcrowding continues to make passengers' lives a misery.

"People are rightly angry that they pay more in fares year after year, but never get a seat, and have to stand crammed into someone else's armpit."

Jacqueline Starr, managing director of customer experience at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: "We understand passengers' frustration when they can't get a seat, which is why rail companies are working together to invest and make journeys better with thousands of new carriages and 6,400 extra train services a week by 2021."