Hot and thirsty rail passengers were almost keeling over as they were squashed on to a crowded train at the weekend, it has been claimed.
Travellers have complained they were packed into two baking hot carriages “like sardines” after a night out in Edinburgh at the weekend.
One woman said people were being treated like cattle on the 22.39 service from Waverley to Perth, as more and more people tried to board the already full train.
Sam Thomson, 34, who was travelling home from a trip to the theatre with friends said: “We were packed in like sardines and some passengers sat down on the floor because they were so hot,” she said.
“We felt like cattle. We couldn’t open a window and we were worried people would actually keel over.”
Sam, who is from Rosyth, said the train was already full as it pulled out of Waverley but another crowd pushed their way on at Haymarket and even more boarded at South Gyle.
“By the time we got to Inverkeithing, it was unbearable,” she said.
Fife councillor Gavin Yates, who runs the campaign group Fairness For Fife Commuters, branded the situation unacceptable.
“We are still having regular issues with capacity, particularly coming from Edinburgh into Fife,” he said.
“People are regularly packed in like sardines and we’re told by ScotRail they can’t add on extra carriages because of the length of some platforms.
“Late trains at weekends are often busy but a bigger issue is for commuters leaving Edinburgh between 4.45 and 6pm.
“It is encumbant on ScotRail to ensure they put on adequate capacity.”
ScotRail blamed the situation on thousands of extra people travelling after the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend concert at Glasgow Green.
A spokeswoman said extra carriages were added to trains in and out of Glasgow and additional trains were on standby to help people get home after the gigs.
She added: “We added carriages where possible we have a finite number at our disposal but, as expected, many services throughout the central belt were much busier than normal.
“We flagged this up in advance on our website and via social media.”