Trackside

Train crowdingHow busy is my train?

Trackside shows how busy a train is in two ways. Trackside Plus shows the train operator's own loading figure for the whole train and, where it's published, for each stop; these are usually typical figures for that service, not live counts. Everyone can also see and add passenger reports of how busy a train feels, and see which carriage to board.

Last updated 17 October 2026

How busy is the whole train?

On a train's page, Trackside Plus shows Quiet, Moderate, Busy or Very busy for the whole train, with a percentage, from the operator's loading figure in National Rail's data. It covers the whole train, not individual carriages. Operators can label a figure as expected for that journey or as typical for that service, and Trackside says which. In Trackside's latest check, every figure published was a typical one.

From Trackside's train screen: 8 coaches, loading Moderate, 30%. How this service is usually loaded, from Southern, not a live count.

How busy will it be at each stop?

Where the operator publishes it, Trackside Plus puts a coloured dot by each stop in the train's calling points: green where it's usually quieter, orange where it's usually busier. This is the operator's long-term average for that service at that stop, from National Rail's Darwin data, not a reading from today's train.

From Trackside's calling points: Gatwick Airport to Portsmouth Harbour, each stop with a coloured dot for how busy the train usually is. Usually busiest around Barnham, quietest around Portsmouth and Southsea.

Which train operators provide busyness information?

As of 15 October 2026, these operators publish loading data that Trackside can show: Southern, Southeastern, Chiltern, Elizabeth line, Gatwick Express, London Overground, Great Northern and Thameslink. Great Northern and Thameslink publish it for some services only. Trackside found this by checking 650 live services across 41 stations. Other operators, including Northern, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and LNER, didn't publish any, so Trackside Plus shows no operator busyness for their trains. Operators start and stop publishing, so this can change either way.

What do other passengers say?

Passenger reports are free for everyone, on every train. Passengers on board can say how busy the train feels, from Quiet to Very busy, which coach they're in, and anything else worth knowing, such as no heating or a noisy carriage. Reports come from passengers and may be unverified.

Trackside's passenger report screen: how busy is the train, from Quiet to Very busy, and anything else such as no heating or a noisy carriage

Which carriage should I board?

For free, Trackside shows how many coaches a train has and which coach is nearest the exit you want at your destination, based on what other passengers have reported. It gets better as more people share where they got on.

Does Trackside show how full each carriage is?

No. Operator figures cover the whole train, or the whole train at each stop, and they're usually typical patterns. Trackside doesn't measure carriages itself and doesn't claim to know how full a particular coach is.