MrEd
Member
- Joined
- 13 Jan 2019
- Messages
- 587
CS have on their website a date of 26/6 as the date that the FW, Aberdeen and Lowlanders are curtailed until...
I wouldn’t see that as being set in stone. I hate to be pessimistic, but I reckon that CS have merely suggested that as a date on which they’ll review the situation. Put it this way, I’m very good friends with several CS staff members and they’re not expecting to see the FW or Aberdeen (or separate Lowlander) returning in the immediate future (and some crew refreshers etc may be needed first, as none of these trains have run since mid-March).
As several folk on here have suggested previously, there is no real need to reinstate the Fort William in particular until tourist businesses in the West Highlands are back up and running, which will be 15th July at the earliest (and many may not reopen until early August or later). Otherwise that section will carry fresh air. That’s assuming the Scottish Government allow us to enter phase 3 in July, which no one can guarantee. I don’t see much need for the Fort William section until maybe early August. I can’t imagine a separate Lowlander being well patronised for a while either, as business travel is at a low level and there’s no Edinburgh festival in August (and city tourism in particular may suffer from social distancing restrictions).
This is going to be a difficult year for CS, to say the least, but I’m sure they’ll get through it. I have a lot of admiration for the staff doing their best to keep the service running all through these strange times. I’m afraid I’m going to be bold and say that they might have to alter their fares and business model to attract demand from a wider spectrum of people later this year, as the well-heeled foreign tourist that so much of the business model is aimed at will not be using the service for the foreseeable future- probably not until well into 2021 or beyond.