The increase in 2009/10 compared with 2008/09 was caused mainly by passengers falling on stairs and escalators, according to a health and safety report from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

Customers suffering injuries getting on or off trains also added to the overall total last year, the ORR said.

In its report - the first of its kind - the ORR expressed concern about track worker safety, with 2009/10 being marked by three fatalities to rail staff.

The ORR also said it was also concerned about the reporting of minor injuries within Network Rail and its contractors, while there were "significant gaps" in the information the rail industry held on occupational health.

Overall, the report said Britain's railways continued to be among the safest in Europe.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said: "We have written to Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond demanding an urgent investigation into the under-reporting of serious accidents at NR.

"Not only is it a scandal that NR executives pocketed £2.4 million in bonuses in the same year that three workers died on the tracks, but there is now overwhelming evidence that safety data is being rigged to hit performance targets. That requires a full and open investigation."

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: "Stations remain safe places for the overwhelming majority of people who use them.

"The ORR's figures show that just over one in every million journeys on the railway network ends up with a passenger getting injured.

"Britain's railways continue to be among the safest in Europe. Rail travel is three times safer than bus travel and 20 times safer than using a car.

"But train companies are not complacent and the whole of the industry will continue to place the highest priority on the safety of passengers and staff."