RAIL passengers have been warned they will not always be able to board the trains of their choice during the busy Olympic period.

Thousands of extra seats have been added to routes from London to help cope with increased usage during the sporting festival.

First Capital Connect (FCC) has also added extra late-night services to deal with commuter traffic but says the effective closure of London Bridge station will have huge knock-on effects elsewhere.

FCC Customer Service Director Keith Jipps said: “We have worked hard to keep our customers moving during the London 2012 Olympic Games by adding 760,000 extra seats across the period through longer trains and additional services, many of them late at night.

“However, there will be times when passengers may have to queue. Indeed they may not be able to get on board their first choice of train.

“Please think about taking a slower stopping service and plan ahead to avoid the busiest times if possible.”

The day of the Opening Ceremony on Friday (July 27) is expected to be one of the busiest for the rail network, with 1,00 extra staff in customer-facing roles being deployed by FCC.

“We have ramped up train fleet maintenance at our depots to provide the extra services and we have cancelled all driver-training during the 2012 Games and secured an Olympic pay deal linked to full attendance,” a spokesman said.

Queuing systems will also be in place and cleaning contracts extended but the company says: “We strongly encourage passengers to buy their train ticket ahead of the 2012 Games, to avoid queues at stations.”

During the Games, 22 off-peak services between London King’s Cross, Peterborough and Cambridge will be doubled in length from four to eight coaches whereas late night services that terminated at Letchworth will now carry onto Cambridge, allowing passengers to make further connections.