TRAIN bosses have apologised after complaints that passengers fainted and felt like 'cattle going to slaughter' on an overcrowded morning service.

Commuters on the service, which stops at Blackrod, Horwich, Lostock and Bolton on the way to Manchester, described how the packed conditions have frequently led to people losing consciousness on board.

One paramedic told how he was forced to clamber over people to help on one occasion.

Now Bolton West MP Chris Green has written to Northern Rail boss Alex Hynes to demand urgent improvements to the rush-hour service.

The scene when the 7.42am train from Blackpool North to Hazel Grove stops at Bolton at 7.55am was described as “bedlam”.

Mr Green said he had reports from his constituents of people fainting on the service last week because of severe overcrowding.

Commuters who regularly contend with the morning crush have also echoed his concerns. Emma McArthur, aged 36, lives near Preston and travels from Horwich to Manchester for work.

She said: “It is just awful every day — I have been using that train since July 2014 and I have never had a seat. I have seen people fainting on the service many times — they just try to cram as many people on board as possible — we are like cattle going to the slaughter. God forbid if anything bad was to happen on the train, it is just so unsafe.”

Helen Byrne, aged 32, from Harwood, also travels to work to Manchester on the service. She said: “I caught this service at Bolton at 7.55am on Monday last week and it was horrendous, as it always is.

“It was very hot and overcrowded and you could hear a woman shouting that someone had fainted and to open the windows. A few months ago a lady next to me passed out — there was a paramedic on board who literally had to climb over people just to get near her.”

She added: “When the train gets to Bolton it can only be described as bedlam, with people pushing and shoving for a tiny bit of space and we are paying for this.

She added: “It is worse than sardines — the other day I wanted to use my phone but I couldn’t get to it in my pocket because I was so squashed — I don’t know how it is even legal.”

Sean Leaf, 26, from Horwich, catches the train at 7.42am from Blackrod each morning.

He said: “To summarise the service, the standout word has to be appalling. The trains are overcrowded and delayed on a daily basis. I cannot recall a time where this has not been the case.”

Mr Green said he was very concerned by what he had heard. In an e-mail to Mr Hynes he said: “I have heard reports and been shown photos of what looks to be very severe overcrowding, with commuters crammed into carriages with no space to move.

“By the time the service reaches Lostock at 7.50am, the conditions are even worse. I am told that two people even fainted on this particular service this week.

“I would be grateful if you could look into these issues and let me know what can be done to ensure that people can safely commute to work on this service.”

In a response, a spokesman for Northern said: “We are aware of overcrowding on our 7.42am Blackrod to Manchester service and would like to apologise to customers. We are looking at potential solutions — ideally, we would like to add carriages. However, our ability to achieve this is currently being held back by the limitations of the infrastructure we operate on.”

Overcrowding on the service has been an issue for many years but little has been done to tackle the problem.

In 2013, The Bolton News launched its ‘Let’s Get Back on Track’ campaign, which called for an end to the years of overcrowding on the borough’s train services.

After being addressed directly on the issue by Prime Minister David Cameron, it was announced that from December last year, 340,000 extra seats would be made available on trains between Bolton and Manchester — a move made possible because of the electrification of other lines.