Overcrowding on Melbourne's trains has increased under the Coalition government, contradicting official passenger counts that show the peak-hour squeeze has eased, an analysis by Greens leader Greg Barber has found.

Public Transport Victoria's most recent passenger load survey, in May, found peak-hour overcrowding had dropped off sharply in the past year, from 15.3 per cent of services in May 2012 to 11 per cent, and that the percentage of peak-hour passengers travelling on an overcrowded train had dropped from 23 per cent to 17 per cent.

The Greens say a Public Transport Victoria report claiming a drop-off in overcrowded trains "fudges" the figures. Credit:Angela Wylie

But documents obtained by the Greens through freedom of information reveal that the positive results did not include many trains that were affected by the knock-on effect of a cancelled or delayed service. Of the 437 trains surveyed, 113 were excluded.

In total, 146 peak-hour services were counted that carried more than 798 passengers, the official benchmark for a load breach. This was an increase of 10 services compared to the May 2011 survey, the first under the Coalition government.