Failing: Underground

London's transport network is slowly falling apart, according to a report by a passenger group.

The London Transport Users Committee said the Tube has declined. Overcrowding is now a major problem on tube trains, said the group.

Most passengers continue to have "unreliable, slow and overcrowded journeys day in and day out", says committee chairman Suzanne May. "Many people have lost confidence both in the railways and in the people running them."

The committee said the quality of the service had declined arguing that little investment had taken place. Passengers were caught in the middle of the fight between the various parties over the future of the Tube and were suffering because of the current impasse, the report said.

May added: "There are three key factors which would improve the public transport system for its users - reliability, simplicity and raising the quality."

London Underground rejected the report and defended its service as a mass transport system.

"An excess wait of 3.7 minutes per journey works out as an extra 10 seconds per person per day. Add up all people's time annually waiting in cars at traffic lights, or in traffic jams, waiting at airports, waiting at checkouts and you can soon reach astronomical figures.

"We are a mass rapid transit system, carrying about 3 million people daily. Even with a perfect system, people would still fall ill, or forget their bag, or rush on as the doors were closing. These would cause delays and increase waiting times," it said.