EXTRA train carriages have been added to help ease congestion on the Clitheroe to Manchester railway line.

The service, which calls at a number of East Lancashire stations including Blackburn, Darwen and Whalley, is often so busy that passengers are left stranded on the platforms.

Now five carriages from the now-defunct Oldham Loop, which is being converted into a Metrolink line, are being used on peak time services.

Some services will get an additional carriage resulting in an extra 61 seats, while others will get two carriages — an extra 75 seats.

Two peak evening services will see the number of carriages doubled from two to four, creating an extra 114 seats.

The Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority initially paid for the five carriages to be retained in the area, following the closure of the Oldham Loop last October, while the Department for Transport has now picked up the bill to keep them for the long-term.

The previous government announced that Northern Rail would be given 182 additional carriages and TransPennine Express an extra 42.

But that number was halved last July before being further put in doubt in June by new Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.