OVERCROWDED rush-hour trains on the c2c line are set to benefit from 40 extra carriages being added to the service.

Rail firm London Midland will share out 148 of its old carriages to hard-pressed lines, after announcing it will get brand new rolling stock for its services.

However, Peter Slattery, from the Southend Rail Travellers' Association, has demanded the carriages be improved.

He claims carriages are currently uncomfortable, poorly-lit and have no air conditioning.

Mr Slattery, chairman of the commuter pressure group said: "We have been informed about this and it is good news.

"But we have put in a request to Passenger Focus, which is the first body of contact at the Department for Transport, that the carriages will have to be refurbished to give the same level of service as the 357s which currently run on that line.

"They must be brought up to standard because at the moment the seats are uncomfortably low and the carriages have no air conditioning and poor lighting."

Geraint Hughes, spokesman for c2c, confirmed the plans.

He said: "These carriages will supplement our existing fleet and provide more seats where needed in peak hours.

"We wouldn't take them on as they stand. There would have to be a deal with the company to bring them up to standard."

London Midland confirmed it was getting new carriages and the old ones would be passed over to other services. The Department for Transport still has to give permission for changes to services.