RAIL companies are planning to add extra carriages to their trains this summer to cope with thousands of extra passengers during the Olympics.

However, commuters travelling on cramped peak-time services won’t benefit from the extended trains as they will only run between 9.30am and 4pm.

Off-peak trains on c2c’s Shoebury to London Fenchurch Street line will be twice their usual length, adding an 4,500 extra seats an hour during the games in July and August.

Greater Anglia, which runs the Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street service is planning a smartphone app to provide train service updates during the Games.

The c2c line could face congestion as it runs close to two Olympic venues, the Olympic stadium in Stratford and the mountain bike course at Hadleigh Farm.

Greater Anglia will also be running direct trains from Southend Airport’s new station to the Olympic Park in Stratford.

No engineering works are planned on either line during the Olympics and the rush-hour will remain unchanged.

Julian Drury, c2c’s managing director, said: “There’s been a lot of speculation about the impact of the Olympics on people using public transport, but our message is it’s business as usual for regular commuters, while we’re making extra provision for Olympic travellers.

“Thanks to our intense preparation, we’re confident, by protecting peak services while introducing more and longer trains to the Olympic stations, we’ll be capable of meeting passenger demand.”

Full details of timetable changes have yet to be announced.

Ruud Haket, managing director of Greater Anglia, said: “We have worked in partnership with Network Rail on the forward planning and implementation of the timetable for our customers using Greater Anglia services during the Games period, with provision made for enhanced services, including more later-evening trains and a Saturday frequency of service on Sundays.”

There will be extra late-night services and extra trains will run on Sundays.

c2c is also surveying passengers and their travel intentions during the Olympics as a way of helping to to plan services.

To take part, go to c2c-online.co.uk/2012_games _questionnaire.

For details of Greater Anglia services, and to see the new Olympic timetable, go to greateranglia.co.uk