PASSENGERS have launched fresh criticism of ScotRail after the morning train from North Berwick to Edinburgh had just three carriages on it at rush hour.

The service, which ScotRail said normally has four carriages, was a car down on the peak hour journey.

The busy service was packed long before it reached Musselburgh at 7.44am yesterday.

Angry commuters reported more than 35 people being left behind on the platform as they were unable to squeeze onto the packed train.

And they shared images of the crammed carriages with the Courier.

One passenger described the scenes on the train as "madness".

He said: "For the sake of health and safety this clearly cannot be acceptable. The woman in front of me was feeling faint and was ready to pass out.

"Why does it appear that ScotRail is answerable to no one?

"Why do we pay such an astronomical fair for such a dated and underrated service?"

A spokesperson for ScotRail said: "We apologise to customers for the discomfort, and share their frustration when these things happen.

“We do everything we can to prevent this, however, all other available carriages were already in use.”