TWO train journeys across the region are on a list of the “most overcrowded” in Britain – forcing huge numbers of passengers to stand.

Now the Government has urged train companies to tackle “the frustration of rail passengers forced to stand on busy services”, insisting the problem can be solved.

Claire Perry, the rail minister, said: “Train operators must act now, they must find new ways to create space on the network and in their trains.”

The two journeys in the North-East and North Yorkshire are:

* The 6.30am from Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough – which is 66 per cent over capacity

* The 6.30am Scarborough to Manchester Airport – which is 56 per cent over capacity.

The department for transport (DfT) said the operator on both routes - First TransPennine Express – had made some recent improvements to ease overcrowding.

In both directions, a fifth train each hour had “helped out in relieving constrained capacity by reducing the gap in frequency of services”.

But Ms Perry – who released of the ten most overcrowded routes - added: “On too many journeys, passengers have to stand in cramped conditions.”

And James MacColl, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “These figures show overcrowding is getting worse at the country's main stations.

“With up to one-in-five passengers having to stand and ticket prices increasing much faster than wages, rail commuters will be questioning the value for money they get.”

Of the ten-strong list, the rest were on trains in and out of London, to Oxford, Birmingham and Crewe for example.

But the city with the worst overcrowding was Sheffield, while the problem at the 11 largest cities was marginally worse in autumn 2013 than one year earlier.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, representing rail operators, acknowledged that “some services remain crowded”.

But he said: “Because rail users are at the heart of what we do, the industry is already planning to increase peak-time seats into and out of many major cities by a third in the next five years.”

The list was released after The Northern Echo joined forces with business leaders, council chiefs and MPs to urge the Government to end decades of underinvestment in rail in the region.

The Right Lines campaign calls on ministers to ensure the new Northern Rail and TransPennine operators deliver improvements including:

* The replacement of 30-year-old trains.

* Improvements to run-down stations.

* Better customer services, including sufficient staff on trains and at stations.

* More services, including a commitment to maintain services at smaller stations.

* Smart ticketing across the region.

* Faster journeys from improved infrastructure and better reliability.

* Better links with other transport modes.