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Coronavirus virus effect on Heritage lines Summer 2020
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Robin Edwards
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So John, how would you feel if you inadvertently caught the virus and passed it on to someone much more vulnerable than yourself who then dies - do you see this as simply their bad luck and that they might have caught it anyway?
I am part-time carer to three elderly relatives, one in her mid nineties. I therefore wouldn't savour the thought of catching Covid-19 whilst enjoying a day at a heritage railway and then passing it on to one of them.
The_Train
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It's this that scares me more than anything. I'm confident that I could fight the virus but I'm terrified of it in case I pass it on to my parents. Therefore I'm doing my best to avoid the potential of catching it.
Unfortunately the old fashioned 'Rule Britannia' and 'Great British spirit' is not always the answer.
Robin Edwards
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I'm really not sure what being BRITISH has anything to do with panic & a global pandemic but hey ho - maybe this?
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I think there’s going to be lots of this kind of news for a while.
It’s probably going to be better for a lot of lines to cancel events now bearing in mind the chain of things that need to go right when organising a gala...
Considering the age profile of heritage rail volunteers plus the risk the government tells older folk to stay at home it would be brave to not cancel everything for months.
I wonder if there might have to be a large scale reallocation of national lottery funds away from projects and instead focusing on bailouts to save lots of museums and heritage attractions from going under.
I wonder if there might have to be a large scale reallocation of national lottery funds away from projects and instead focusing on bailouts to save lots of museums and heritage attractions from going under.
LeylandLen
Member
Reports saying government could stop 'mass gatherings' under emergency legislation from next weekend. Im interested how they define these.Presumably some small Heritage railways could still operate. Larger more popular ones like SVR could not.?
Belperpete
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Events large enough to require mandatory ambulance attendance was what I heard mentioned. If so, I suspect most heritage railways could continue to operate, although some of the larger galas could be affected. However, whether enough people will turn up to be worth operating is another matter.
Mike Machin
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As a business owner, I feel the only sensible course of action for most heritage railways and steam centres would be to consider closing entirely for a couple months from around a fortnight’s time from now. The first thing to do would be to cut all non-essential expenditure, so ‘park up’ all expensive projects until later in the year to conserve funds.
Most if not all major railways have paid staff and it’s important that money is conserved to ensure they can still be paid.
You may feel that this all sounds a bit drastic, but I have just been reading today’s data about Covid-19 published by University College London. The UK is approximately 14 days behind Italy when it comes to infection rates and transmission. The UK government has already said that it’s almost certain that those aged 70 or over will be required to self-isolate for four months. This will mean that many of the visitors who typically visit a steam railway or heritage centre will be unable to do so until August.
The railways will also not have anywhere near the usual number of volunteers available either.
It is highly likely that there will be very severe restrictions of movement at some point over the coming months making it impossible to visit such attractions anyway.
I think it’s vital for our wonderful heritage centres to keep a very keen eye on day-to-day visitor numbers, and as soon as they show a decline they must take immediate action to reduce costs. Please don’t bury your heads in the sand and hope it will go away. Take action to minimise costs - run fewer trains, substitute diesel traction if it’s cheaper, but do keep operating costs to the minimum.
There WILL be very severe dislocation not only to business, but to society itself and only railways with a sound financial plan to cope with this regrettable situation will survive.
Hunker down now, and we should all be able to enjoy some wonderful gala events in the Autumn.
Most if not all major railways have paid staff and it’s important that money is conserved to ensure they can still be paid.
You may feel that this all sounds a bit drastic, but I have just been reading today’s data about Covid-19 published by University College London. The UK is approximately 14 days behind Italy when it comes to infection rates and transmission. The UK government has already said that it’s almost certain that those aged 70 or over will be required to self-isolate for four months. This will mean that many of the visitors who typically visit a steam railway or heritage centre will be unable to do so until August.
The railways will also not have anywhere near the usual number of volunteers available either.
It is highly likely that there will be very severe restrictions of movement at some point over the coming months making it impossible to visit such attractions anyway.
I think it’s vital for our wonderful heritage centres to keep a very keen eye on day-to-day visitor numbers, and as soon as they show a decline they must take immediate action to reduce costs. Please don’t bury your heads in the sand and hope it will go away. Take action to minimise costs - run fewer trains, substitute diesel traction if it’s cheaper, but do keep operating costs to the minimum.
There WILL be very severe dislocation not only to business, but to society itself and only railways with a sound financial plan to cope with this regrettable situation will survive.
Hunker down now, and we should all be able to enjoy some wonderful gala events in the Autumn.
duffield
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Belperpete
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There may be some preserved lines whose clientele is largely made up of the over 70s, but I suspect not many. The overseas travel bans may actually mean MORE visitors and volunteers are available, particularly those lines in holiday areas. In my case, two upcoming overseas trips are going to be cancelled, so I am going to be looking for something else to do.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I've not really been in on this thread but I had a thought.
When people are cooped up at home they are not spending money. Therefore those who can work and pensioners will still get paid but won't be spending it.
So people can surely donate to charities like these to keep them going?
If shut down, their costs will be far lower anyway, just basic stuff.
When people are cooped up at home they are not spending money. Therefore those who can work and pensioners will still get paid but won't be spending it.
So people can surely donate to charities like these to keep them going?
If shut down, their costs will be far lower anyway, just basic stuff.
I think at this stage it's just going to be a case of how many events are going to be cancelled and when, the WSR steam gala at the end of April will be decided on the end of March, I really cant see anything gala wise happening this month now and that will effect next month as well if any mainline TOCs might have crews off sick they are very unlikely to supply locos and crews to attend a pres line, we can probably write off the early seasonits just a matter now of how long this will all last for
Belperpete
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How many preserved lines have locos and crew supplied by a TOC, even for a gala? Very very few.
A number of TOC staff volunteer on preserved lines, but that is a very different matter. What you do on your time off is generally no business of your employer, unless you do something detrimental to your employer.
John Luxton
Established Member
Apparently "BE BRITISH" was supposedly one of the last things Captain Smith bellowed to the panicking passengers on the Titanic as she went down! Basically keep you head. All I can see if panicking people pressurising the politicians. If people would get a grip and look carefully at numbers things are nowhere near as bad as they appear. I was given a link to a very useful web site which gives current up to date world figures and do remember world poulation is 7.8 billion!
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
It shows just how many people have Covid 19 world wide and then there is a breakdown by country. But more importantly unlike the figures the government keep trotting out it shows just how many are seriously ill or have died which is actually quite a small number. Also importantly it shows how many active cases there are and how many have recovered. This is is the information that needs to be publicised more. Being stoical, brave and carrying on as near normal as possible whilst we face this problem is probably going to be for the best in the long term, because it isn't just peoples physical health that is important but also their mental health.
At the start of WWII the UK Government thought it a good idea to ban mass gatherings in case places of entertainment where hit by bombs. After initial closure they were allowed to reopen and some limited sport including horse racing continued. Keeping people's moral up in times of woe is vitally important because a worn down populace will not be as resistant to illness as a happy one.
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Well diesel galas definitely do
John Luxton
Established Member
Until mid January I too was a carer for my elderly mother who passed away at the age of 94. Obviously I would not have wanted to pass anything on to her. She relied on me to take her out as she had to use a wheelchair and though not a rail enthusiast she did encourage my interest as a child and always enjoyed visiting heritage lines with me. She always had a feisty attitude which has almost certainly been passed to me and would readily give her opinion on news stories when we watched the news together each evening.
Knowing her I know what her reaction would have been to the suggestion over 70s stay in doors. It would have been along the lines of "No politician is going to tell me what to do" but she would have added a few more words which would not be appropriate for posting in polite company!
Please don't get me wrong I am not trying to play down the situation we find ourselves in and we should take sensible precautions. I did a couple of round trips at Llangollen Railway on Saturday and between each trip hopped off the train and washed my hands.
I am a great believer in luck and have always had the attitude if your number is up it is up, if it isn't it isn't.
John
John Luxton
Established Member
A railway isn't a mass gathering is it? An event at a railway is? Until network rail shuts I think heritage lines should continue to operate as normal.
Mike Machin
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The problem with 'operating as normal' is that it takes money to do that, and quite simply from the scientific papers I have read this weekend (I work in medical publishing), there will not be anybody visiting steam railways or heritage centres in a few weeks time. This is going to be a long haul and it will be mid summer at the earliest before anything resembling normality returns.
Robin Edwards
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And similarly, donate to Heritage Railways that are feeling the pinch.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It's them that I was referring to as charities. Theatres will be similar (though not all are charities), some are asking for people to donate their ticket price from cancelled shows - this seems a reasonable request (and they'll get an extra 20% on gift aid too as it's a genuine donation, though that does require a refund and donate back).
Robin Edwards
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I'm very much admiring your stiff upper lip John, unlike those non-BRITISH sorts who are seemingly over reacting and panicking? I guess as the Titanic went down, how those on board met their end was somewhat irrelevant.
In terms of taking precautions beyond washing hands, it's about limiting the spread in terms of impact on already-stretched & depleted NHS resources. If we all trust on luck and show we're true Brits, I'm not sure we would do as well as some of the other nations who may in you eyes have panicked unnecessarily?
My father is in his 80s and I fear that someone will need to tie him in his chair! The Spanish have their police on the streets using drones to prevent people going against the decisions to remain at home. That will become interesting here in UK if it comes to that.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Replying in the general CV thread.
reddragon
Established Member
The EU has just banned all but essential travel.
So a summer of holidays at home then! Could be good for Heritage railways?
So a summer of holidays at home then! Could be good for Heritage railways?
221129
Established Member
Source? Last I checked they were suggesting a possibility and that would only be from outside the EU into the Shengen area. Therefore there would be no ban on UK residents or citizens travelling into the EU.
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