A rail passenger who frequently commutes to London has reported that smaller replacement trains often result in overcrowded conditions.

Roy Azoulay reached out to the BBC after observing significant overcrowding on Great Western Railway (GWR) services between Oxford and London, at times causing him to miss his intended train.

After he contacted his local Member of Parliament, Mr. Azoulay learned that the problem was partially attributed to issues with the diesel engines, which GWR is currently working to resolve in conjunction with their supplier, Hitachi.

While GWR extended their apologies to Mr. Azoulay, they mentioned that this issue impacts only about 2.5% of their services, which translates to roughly one affected train each day.

Mr. Azoulay indicated that in recent weeks, trains that should have consisted of nine carriages were arriving at Oxford station significantly under-capacity.

“Numerous passengers are unable to board and must wait for the next train or endure extremely crowded conditions,” he remarked.

“It’s not an inexpensive fare. If you need to arrive in London by [09:00], it’s a costly journey, and it certainly doesn’t feel pleasant.”

Following Mr. Azoulay’s inquiry, Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds shared a written reply from the government rail minister, Lord Hendy.

The letter stated that “reliability problems stemming from a specific issue with the diesel engines in the Intercity Express Trains fleet” contributed to the situation.

It also mentioned that GWR is collaborating with Hitachi, the Japanese firm responsible for manufacturing and maintaining the trains, to address the concerns.

Dan Panes, a spokesperson for GWR, explained that nine-car trains affected by the issue were being reduced to five carriages.

“Naturally, this isn’t satisfactory… [but] we’ve managed to keep the majority of our services operational,” he said.

Mr. Panes also noted that passengers who had reserved seats but couldn’t board a crowded train are eligible for compensation.