Rail providers Southern carried more than £7.5m passengers during the Olympic fortnight.

To meet greater demand 120 extra trains were scheduled and carriages were added, providing 360,000 additional seats.

Chris Burchell, Southern’s managing director said: “With detailed preparation and a huge team effort, we provided our passengers with an excellent service throughout the Games period. I’d like to thank our regular passengers who heeded advice and travelled on different routes to avoid hotspots. This helped tremendously. ”

The Paralympic Games run between August 29 and September 9.

Mr Burchell said: “With Paralympic Games tickets expected to sell-out, the Paralympics will also be a significant challenge for us – a challenge that we are prepared for and we look forward to giving our passengers the best possible service we can.”