A RAIL company has apologised to scores of passengers forced to stand for large parts of their journey in soaring temperatures because of a shortage of train carriages.

First TransPennine Express said one of its trains overheated and broke down in the weekend's hot weather, and had to be withdrawn from service.

As a result, passengers on the 11.14am Manchester Airport to Newcastle service faced severe overcrowding after it was reduced from three carriages to two.

Many had to stand for the majority of their journey until the service reached York.

One passenger said: "There were a lot of people with heavy luggage, as well as with children, who just could not find a seat.

"It was also quite warm - there didn't appear to be any air conditioning - and it was an hour or so into the journey before the guard actually opened the windows since he physically could not get down the train because of the number of people standing in the aisles.

"Things only seemed to improve once the train had left York and some more seats became available."

Claire Wright, spokeswoman for First TransPennine Express, said: "We would like to apologise to customers who were disappointed with Sunday's 11.14am Manchester Airport to Newcastle service.

"The reason there were two carriages, instead of the usual three, was because of a shortage of units due to the heat.

"This is something we are aware of and have therefore been undergoing a programme of modifications on the existing fleet to improve reliability and prevent this from happening in the future. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused."

First TransPennine runs a daytime half-hourly service direct from York to Manchester Airport and an hourly service from Newcastle and Middlesbrough.