Travellers will be able to avoid overcrowded trains through an app that identifies services with spare seats before they reach the station.
The country’s biggest rail operator is testing technology that lets passengers see whether trains are standing-room only or have seats available. The app will show the status of the next five trains due at a given station, helping travellers to make informed choices about which one to board.
The system, dubbed Rail Watch, analyses mobile phone signals and information about train capacity to assess the likely occupancy level. At present it identifies only capacity on the train as a whole. However, work is being carried out to let travellers pinpoint exactly which carriages on individual trains are full or half-empty, allowing them to