Demands to stop overcrowding on trains were made to the Government today in a bid to stop commuters returning to the roads.

Transport 2000 - a national environmental transport body - unveiled its Yorkshire and the Humber Growing Railways manifesto ahead of its completion of a 30-year future rail strategy next year.

Campaigners warned that passengers would start turning their backs on rail travel if operators failed to tackle overcrowding.

The manifesto recommends solutions such as running longer trains, investing in new carriages with bigger capacity, more frequent services and new signalling to enable more trains to run.

Bradford Councillor Stanley King, chairman of Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, said Transport 2000's proposals mirrored the aims of Metro and the objectives of the City Region Development Plan.

He said a £20million partnership between Metro, Yorkshire Forward and Northern Rail, had seen the introduction this week of six new trains to the West Yorkshire rail network.

Coun King said: "This means an extra 800 seats into and out of Leeds every morning and evening and in the New Year we hope to progress work to develop new stations at Kirkstall and Apperley Bridge.

"We need to see the Government tackling the long-term issues Transport 2000 is highlighting.

"Metro has set out proposals for the long-term growth of rail and we now need Ministers and the Department for Transport to provide real support for our plans."

A spokesman for Northern Rail said: "Customer demand is growing, with passenger journeys up to more than 75 million, a 19 per cent increase since the start of our franchise.

"The terms of our franchise agreement do not provide for investment in rolling stock."

Tim Calow, chairman of the Aire Valley Users Group, said electrification of the lines and new carriages had encouraged more people on to the trains.

He said in the past year there had been a 15 per cent rise in passengers between Bradford, Leeds, Ilkley and Skipton.

"We are getting up to 550 people travelling on some of the trains and there are only 360 seats," he said.

Mr Calow said a problem facing developers was that trains compatible with the electric carriages already being used were no longer in production - meaning operators might have to revert to diesel carriages to extend the number of carriages per train.

And he said increasing carriage numbers would mean many platforms would need extending in length.

But he said despite the series of hurdles a solution was imperative.

e-mail: rebecca.wright@bradford.newsquest.co.uk