The Government has been asked to help address train overcrowding to boost the economy.

Surrey County Council wants more money invested in larger trains and faster journeys to reduce the problem of overcrowded carriages.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening, Councillor John Furey, argued that more trains and less congestion would encourage growth and create more jobs.

Coun Furey said: “Surrey’s trains are already overcrowded and they will become more so as the demand for rail travel increases in the coming years.

“We need to reduce bottlenecks and build more platforms at key junctions such as Guildford or Woking, as well as introducing the latest signalling technology.

“Good transport links are vital to the economic recovery. Surrey contributes around £28 billion to the UK economy which is more than anywhere outside London.”

According to Department for Transport figures for 2007-8, the motorway system in Surrey is currently operating close to or above operational capacity, where flow breakdown is increasingly occurring, and resulting in congestion.

Surrey residents rely heavily on their cars and it was thought increasing rail capacity would ease the burden on the roads.