by Martin Jefferies

The morning commute may be no less of a chore - but it is at least getting easier to find a seat when travelling by train from most parts of Kent.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) says rush-hour services run by Southeastern are now less crowded than before.

Of the 150,000 passengers travelling into London every morning, around 1,900 (1.3 per cent) are in excess of capacity (PiXC) - the way train operating companies measure overcrowding.

That compares to last year's regional average of four per cent and a whopping 18.5 per cent on First Great Western services.

During the evening peak, the figure has fallen to just 0.2 per cent.

It is the third year in a row that Southeastern has reduced overcrowding on rush-hour services.

However, Southern - which operates some services in west Kent - has seen overcrowding rise from 4.2 per cent in 2008 to 5.1 per cent in 2010 for morning services, and double from 0.8 per cent to 1.6 per cent in the evening.

The PiXC figure looks at the standard class capacity of each service arriving at or departing from London and the actual number of standard class passengers on the service at its busiest point. The figure does allow for some standing.

When asked about overcrowding, a Southeastern spokesman said: "Over the past few years passenger numbers have continued to grow.

"And more people are travelling by train. We're also operating more services than ever before.

"Since December 2009, 200 additional weekday services were introduced across the network."