RAIL passengers heading to Edinburgh have been warned “there’s no short-term solution” to overcrowded morning trains after commuters were turned away this week.

Concerns have repeatedly been raised by passengers attempting to get peak-time trains to the Capital.

On Monday, passengers were unable to board the 8.23am train at Musselburgh as it was already full.

That left commuters struggling to get to work on time, as the next train to Edinburgh is not until nearly an hour later, at 9.09am.

One commuter told the Courier: "This is unacceptable and it's not the first time this has happened.

"There should be another train before the 9.09am service, as otherwise it's impossible to get to work on time when this happens.

"With all the new houses planned at Musselburgh, Longniddry and elsewhere in the county, the peak-time trains will soon be far busier. Something has to be done about this."

A spokeswoman for the ScotRail Alliance acknowledged it was “frustrating”, telling the Courier: “It’s not currently possible to add more carriages to this four-carriage train, as the platforms on the line can’t accommodate longer trains.

“Come January, we will begin extending the platform at North Berwick, which means that, in future, trains with more than four carriages will be able to run on this line.

“We know that it’s frustrating for our customers when trains are busy, but unfortunately there’s no short-term solution.

“Adding carriages to any service before the arrival of new electric trains in December 2017 would mean having to take carriages from elsewhere in Scotland, and we have to balance demand fairly across Scotland.

“We are carrying out detailed passenger counts across all routes to increase our understanding of which trains are particularly busy.

“This information will help shape future provision to meet our customers’ travel demands, and may provide the opportunity to re-allocate trains before the introduction of our new fleet.”

Musselburgh councillor Stuart Currie acknowledged it would be “hugely frustrating” for people looking to travel to work but finding themselves stuck on the platform because there was no space on the train.

He told the Courier: “I think herein lies the problem. The infrastructure is not in place for the number of people using the public transport.

“What is worst about the problem in East Lothian with train travel is people are doing the right thing. We want people to come off the A1 and to use the trains. We have spent years convincing people to use the trains.”

Frustrated Musselburgh train station users have also regularly taken to social media to highlight the fact the ticket machine at the station is not working. That can then lead to having to queue at Edinburgh Waverley to purchase a ticket.