FEARS are growing that Wharfedale rail passengers could be packed into smaller trains as carriages on loan to local services disappear.

Transport bosses and Government officials are said to be still in talks over the possible loss of several carriages currently being used by Northern Rail on the popular Wharfedale Line.

But councillors have joined the queue of concerned commuters who fear the loss of the carriages, on loan with the aid of Government funding, will mean a return to overcrowded peak-time trains on the line.

The arrival of the modern Class 333 trains on the line Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Menston and Guiseley with Leeds and Bradford, helped to ease crowding on rush-hour commuters trains in recent years.

Department for Transport to lend the extra carriages meant each train could run with four carriages, all of which are often filled on busy morning and evening weekday services.

Members of Ilkley Parish Council has added its voice to calls for regional transport heads to ensure the carriages stay on the Wharfedale and Aireline lines.

"It is a reduction in capacity on the trains," said ward and parish councillor, Anne Hawkesworth. "There seems to be a threat to reduce funding as far as rolling stock on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines. It would also be catastrophic as far as the public support is concerned. It seems it is very likely to happen.

"It would be a very good thing if this parish council put its weight behind action to ensure they retain the funding."

Ilkley Parish Council chairman, Councillor Brian Mann, was also keen to see the council push for action.

He said: "We have got to get behind people concerned and make sure something happens."

Wharfedale Rail Users' Group (WRUG) alerted local rail travellers to the possible loss of carriages in September. The group had been campaigning for more peak time train services to cope with the ever-growing passenger numbers as Wharfedale's population continues to expand.

The Department for Transport spent almost £4million on the temporary scheme for the extra carriages, but said West Yorkshire regional transport bosses must find the money itself to keep the carriages in service.

Local rail operator, Northern Rail, and the firm leasing the carriages to the operator, are believed to be still in talks.

MPs, meanwhile, have branded Britain's rail network a costly muddle'. The House of Commons Transport Committee, which studied the performance of the national rail franchising system, produced a report claiming there was a bleak future for the rail network, unless the system was changed.