NORTH Durham MP Kevan Jones has called a public meeting following an outcry from residents who say they are frustrated by poor rail services.

Mr Jones said commuters had complained that services stopping at Chester-le-Street - the last service on the East Coast Main Line before Newcastle - are often so full that passengers are left waiting at the station.

He said it is a particular problem during rush hour. Concerns have also been raised about the reliability of services. Mr Jones said: "My constituents are being left on the platform due to overcrowding on the trains. That simply isn't good enough.

"This meeting will allow passengers to put their views across face-to-face with the train operators and, hopefully, get some answers."

Alex Nelson, station master of Chester-le-Track, who runs the station, said: "There has been an increase in the number of services, but what has happened is that the number of people using trains has increased even more."

He said that in 1999 the station had three commuter trains, often run with only single coach - the number of trains has more than doubled since then, but this has not met demand.

Mr Nelson said: "It would be a great help if Northern Rail could put an extra carriage on its 7.48am service, which runs between Saltburn and Newcastle.

"It is mostly empty by the time it gets to Chester-le-Street. Perhaps Mr Jones may be able to persuade the company to do so."

Virgin Rail spokesman said: "We admit that, at times, things may not be as we would like them, but are not aware of any particular problems at Chester-le-Street.

"Capacity is a real issue facing the industry generally. We run cross country services which are up for re-tendering and we have submitted our bid in which we have put our ideas on how to address capacity issues.

"We do not have the luxury of being able to put on extra trains at the moment."

A Transpennine Express spokesman said: "We will be attending the meeting and look forward to hearing what people have to say."

The meeting will be held at the Parish Centre, Chester-le-Street, at 7pm, next Friday.