A REPORT published by Transport Scotland which does not include the North Berwick to Edinburgh rail line in its top 10 busiest train services has come under fire.

Musselburgh Green campaigner Jason Rose claimed that it gave a “misleading impression” that problems being experienced by commuters from the Honest Toun were not as bad as elsewhere in the country.

The report, ‘ScotRail’s Top 10 Busiest Trains’, excluded trains where the level of overcrowding was for less than 10 minutes.

Mr Rose, a Green candidate in the forthcoming council elections, said: “The journey time into Waverley from Musselburgh is only eight or nine minutes but routinely you have to stand, absolutely packed in like sardines, and that’s on the days when you’re lucky enough for the train to let you on.

“The problems of overcrowded services leaving Musselburgh commuters stranded on the platform have been well reported by the Courier.

“This report is pretty meaningless and shows that the Scottish Government and its agencies don’t understand the reality we face just trying to get to work, visit friends and go shopping. I’m still waiting to hear back from Scottish and UK ministers about the need to upgrade the East Coast Main Line to create more capacity for more frequent local services.”

READ MORE: Commuters yet again left stranded by overcrowded train

The report stated that the information released was based on passenger carrying capacity and ‘snapshot’ manual passenger count details provided by ScotRail for all of its services as part of its franchise obligation.

“ScotRail’s franchise obligation is to use reasonable endeavours to allocate its train fleet and resources in the most effective way to provide passengers with a reasonable expectation of a seat within 10 minutes of boarding, and to minimise any forecast overcrowding,” it added.

The report went on to state: “The passenger carrying capacity and passenger numbers are incorporated into a Train Plan which ScotRail is obliged to prepare and submit to Transport Scotland for consideration and approval, for each timetable change in May and December.

“The information contained in the Train Plan for December 2016 has been used to determine ScotRail’s 10 busiest services. The figures used for each service represents the highest passenger load on the train after 10 minutes throughout the journey. It excludes trains where the level of overcrowding in the journey is for less than 10 minutes.”

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We wholly appreciate busy trains can be uncomfortable and assure passengers we are focused on delivering the value for money service they both want and deserve. Our measurement of 10 minutes standing time, across all services, is half that of 20 minutes for services south of the Border.

“This busiest trains information is intended to help passengers most affected make informed journey planning choices. We wholly appreciate other parts of the country not on this list, including the Lothians, would like to see capacity increased.

“That is why ScotRail have some services on the North Berwick to Edinburgh line operating as longer, six-car formations at the moment during the spring, and plans are in place to permanently introduce six car trains from early next year.”