Getting people back on trains as lockdown eases.

[Grecian 1998]

BR's usual way of making cuts by the 1980s was singling and de-quadrifying routes where the capacity was deemed unnecessary. Much less controversial to remove a track if one is left there. Some of these have of course been put back at significant expense e.g. Truro - St Austell, Filton Bank. Part of the reason Filton Bank was re-quadrified was of course to allow the Bristol - London fast services; I can't recall if these have ever run but it is likely to a long time if ever before the numbers justify them.

I don't think a return of 1980s capacity reduction schemes is likely but if a decision is made that major cuts are necessary to lines as well as to services, this tactic wouldn't generate headlines about the return of Beeching in the way that closing entire routes would.

 

[squizzler]

There has been a surge of new fleets introductions, either immediately before lockdowns, or have been taking place over the last 16 months, e.g. the TPE fleets, 80x fleets, Stadlers, Aventras etc etc.

So people returning for the first time in a while might get a very good impression.

Exactly my thoughts. Although I would add this impression of a transformed railway will come not only from the introduction of lovely new trains but also the withdrawal of some utter stinkers such as the pacers.

In fact the old trains that returning passengers might only note from their absence are stinkers not just metaphorically. The general sense of cleanliness of the railway - so important now - must be enhanced by such mundane things as retention tanks on all trains. No longer will stations carry a whiff of lavatorial smell, or the four foot look so minging as passengers might remember it from before. However this might not be the sort of progress that lends itself to a marketing campaign!

So much for the muck that comes out the bottom of the trains, cleaner engines and electrification also mean that the stations are cleaner than people remember. Many of those returning to train travel, particularly if they used to travel regularly, will be looking round with a fresh pair of eyes, and notice how much tidier everything is. These little things make a difference.

Taking the theme of causing less offence to the senses that little bit further, what remans now is to get rid of the visual clutter of unnecessary notices and advertisements, and fewer automated announcements.

Probably referring to the (new stock on the) Sleeper.

Yep. Caledonian Sleeper.

I don't think a return of 1980s capacity reduction schemes is likely but if a decision is made that major cuts are necessary to lines as well as to services, this tactic wouldn't generate headlines about the return of Beeching in the way that closing entire routes would.

I don't think anybody believes 1980s capacity reduction schemes will happen. Rail usage is much greater than then even as things stand, and already needs capacity replaced since this period.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Hope this is acceptable to post - saw in cinema today. Superb and stylish in my view.

TfL 'Welcome back. Tube it. Bus it. Train it' by VCCP

VCCP's latest integrated campaign with TfL turns their world famous signage into visual representations of activities and destinations that Londoners have missed during lockdown.

www.vccp.com

‘Welcome back. Tube it. Bus it. Train it.’ welcomes back the public and encourages them to go back out and take part in all the activities and destinations they have missed with TfL and their services, be it by Tube, bus, train, tram, riverboat or Airline.


Targeting younger Londoners aged between 18 and 44 years old, who are ready to get back to living life, the film reminds Londoners that public transport isn’t just about routes and timetables. It’s about our lives. The film features real members of the public to authentically communicate the personal journeys that we all take with the TfL network.

 

[brad465]

A reassuring study released here about how no traces of covid were found in 4 major stations on surfaces where lots of contact is made:

No Covid traces found in railway stations or trains

Heavily touched areas like escalator handles, ticket machines and benches were swabbed for the virus.

www.bbc.co.uk

Tests have found no traces of Covid-19 in swabs and air samples of four major railway stations and intercity train services, Network Rail has said.

Two lots of testing took place at London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly station.

Heavily touched areas such as escalator handles were swabbed, while hour-long air samples checked for airborne virus.

Tests were repeated on trains running between the stations.

There has been extra cleaning of transport services throughout the pandemic to protect against the virus spreading through contaminated surfaces and the air.

Imperial College London researchers examined the results of the tests - which took place in January and June - and found no coronavirus contamination of any surface or airborne virus particles.

 

[birchesgreen]

I had my first standing room only train since before March last year on Saturday, luckily i was only on it for one stop / 6 mins.

 

[james60059]

Whilst I can't speak for other locations, the trains on my local line seem well patronised, usually observe passenger loadings when shopping at Tesco in Hinckley and the local stoppers seem well loaded. That said, went into Nuneaton one morning last week, usually pre-covid the car park at the station was always full by 8:30am, last Thursday it was around 30% full with just one car on the upper level.

 

[jon0844]

Hope this is acceptable to post - saw in cinema today. Superb and stylish in my view.

TfL 'Welcome back. Tube it. Bus it. Train it' by VCCP

VCCP's latest integrated campaign with TfL turns their world famous signage into visual representations of activities and destinations that Londoners have missed during lockdown.

www.vccp.com

A nice, fun, video that seems to be in line with the rail industry trying hard to entice people back to trains (which definitely seems to be happening for leisure travel in particular).

From the video, I wonder if anyone noticed a drop in users of the cable car during the pandemic? 2 users down to 1 per day?

 

[Ediswan]

A reassuring study released here about how no traces of covid were found in 4 major stations on surfaces where lots of contact is made:

No Covid traces found in railway stations or trains

Heavily touched areas like escalator handles, ticket machines and benches were swabbed for the virus.

www.bbc.co.uk

Network Rail then claim this proves that regular cleaning and wearing face masks work. Not a rational conclusion. There may have been none in first place. The results would be the same.

 

[jon0844]

Network Rail then claim this proves that regular cleaning and wearing face masks work. Not a rational conclusion. There may have been none in first place. The results would be the same.

I can't see how regular cleaning, people protecting their mouth and nose (by hopefully wearing their mask properly), washing hands more regularly, and keeping distance was not in some way helping reduce the risk?

If not those things, what? Is the virus just a hoax?! Was there absolutely no chance anyone using a train in the last year or so had Covid? Surely those who were exempt, or just couldn't be bothered to wear a mask, made regular cleaning and the use of anti-viral sprays/coatings particularly important?

Perhaps one station should have been left alone so we could compare notes...

 

[yorkie]

....saw in cinema today. Superb and stylish in my view....

It's okay but TfL's actions are very different to what the video portrays; the impression I get is that they do not want my custom and do not want to make us feel welcome; I certainly don't feel welcome on TfL services.

I'd be more on board with the video if I felt they meant it and their other messaging was on similar lines, which is sadly far from the case. As it is, my view of the video is therefore tainted; I am very suspicious and untrusting of TfL right now and it is going to take a lot to change that, sadly.

 

[Failed Unit]

I can't see how regular cleaning, people protecting their mouth and nose (by hopefully wearing their mask properly), washing hands more regularly, and keeping distance was not in some way helping reduce the risk?

I think the masks can be part of the transmission problem themselves. It is in the pocket not changed for days, weeks, months (who knows) so it if does have the virus on the mask it is transferred to the hands and then to the surfaces. Likewise on LNER (picking on the deliberately as they still want everyone masked) someone puts the mask on the table, if it wasn't clean regularly the next person could unwitting get the virus by transferring from the previous occupier.

I rarely see people was their hands immediately after handling their mask.

But the enhanced cleaning certainly is a brilliant positive. The fact that it lasts of so long so when people do transfer the virus from the mask that was in their pocket, to the grab rail, the transmission loop is broken.

Love to know how much the enhanced cleaning is costing but I think it is worthwhile continuing this if we can afford it. You sadly do get on some heavily litter trains, but you can't stop some people.

I agree with your final point - like a lot of the science experiments their is not control. Even number units treat, odd number ones dont and compare (OK not realistic)

 

[yorkie]

I can't see how regular cleaning, people protecting their mouth and nose (by hopefully wearing their mask properly), washing hands more regularly, and keeping distance was not in some way helping reduce the risk?

If not those things, what? Is the virus just a hoax?!

The virus is clearly not a hoax (!) but there may be a middle ground rather than one extreme or another! Please be aware that protecting mouths and noses requires particular masks; see the following hread for details, and let's continue the discussion there:

The case for and against the effectiveness of face coverings and the mandating of their use

https://twitter.com/richdavisphd/status/1276629364067536897 This is a visual (but non scientific) demonstration of the benefit of masks. Social distancing is more effective, but where it isn't possible a mask has benefits, have you tried spitting with one on? The virus particles don't travel on...

www.railforums.co.uk

I think the masks can be part of the transmission problem themselves. ...

Let's continue that discussion at the following thread:

The case for and against the effectiveness of face coverings and the mandating of their use

In order to avoid loads of more niche threads becoming overrun with the same arguments, I've created this dedicated thread to enable people to debate whether or not face coverings are effective at reducing transmission, whether or not they should be legally mandated in certain settings, and to...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Kilopylae]

[Originally for the TfL thread that has just been merged into this one]

The subtext of TfL's current campaigning to get people back on the Tube is that using their services is perfectly safe. However, the requirement to wear masks (whatever its public health merits) gives the impression that the Tube is a particularly dangerous environment - i.e. that one is significantly more likely to catch Covid on public transport than in a restaurant, a nightclub, a shopping centre, a public library, whatever.

Hence the overall impression is that TfL knows its services are unsafe but is trying to get people to use them anyway. If the passenger already has this suspicion, the regular "we know travelling might not be exactly like it was before" announcements on the Tube no doubt reinforce it.

So, unfortunately for TfL, I don't think any of this is going to work until they abandon the mask requirement. Even then, the pandemic will still have convinced a number of people that public transport is a health risk.

 

[Ediswan]

Perhaps one station should have been left alone so we could compare notes...

Exactly. It needs to be shown that the mitigations made a difference. Otherwise you are in 'Elephant Repellent' territory.

 

[Kilopylae]

A reassuring study released here about how no traces of covid were found in 4 major stations on surfaces where lots of contact is made:

I thought it had been determined in mid-2020 that SARS-CoV-2 does not really spread through fomites, i.e. via surfaces?

I have no idea about how likely or otherwise it would have been to find the virus in random air samples were it circulating and presenting a risk.

 

[jon0844]

I think the masks can be part of the transmission problem themselves. It is in the pocket not changed for days, weeks, months (who knows) so it if does have the virus on the mask it is transferred to the hands and then to the surfaces.

If people aren't/weren't changing or washing their masks properly, that isn't the fault of the mask. I totally agree that you see people pull out a medical mask from a pocket and have to wonder if they've used it for over a year, when they're supposed to be replaced after a few hours! For those people, masks are totally compromised - although any bacteria on them is not going to give people Covid, but potentially other issues.

I agree there are now mixed messages (there have been all along TBH) but there's no harm doing the cleaning (and I think it should continue as much as practical from now on, as it will likely help stop even the common cold being such a big deal).

Also, I bet people have long stopped washing their hands for 20-30 seconds or carrying their own hand sanitiser. Frankly, people becoming complacent is part of the problem, but it's inevitable.

 

[AlterEgo]

Network Rail then claim this proves that regular cleaning and wearing face masks work. Not a rational conclusion. There may have been none in first place. The results would be the same.

But many (most?) people aren't wearing face masks. I'm on a train now from Euston - about 70% unmasked.

 

[island]

Hope this is acceptable to post - saw in cinema today. Superb and stylish in my view.

TfL 'Welcome back. Tube it. Bus it. Train it' by VCCP

VCCP's latest integrated campaign with TfL turns their world famous signage into visual representations of activities and destinations that Londoners have missed during lockdown.

www.vccp.com

I’ll be delighted to go back to using the Tube, bus, etc. the moment TfL drops its nonsensical face covering rules.

Yesterday I had to travel from Euston to London Bridge; I walked to St. Pancras and got Thameslink for this reason,

 

[Kilopylae]

I’ll be delighted to go back to using the Tube, bus, etc. the moment TfL drops its nonsensical face covering rules.

Yesterday I had to travel from Euston to London Bridge; I walked to St. Pancras and got Thameslink for this reason,

Me and two friends (one of whom dislikes wearing masks) on a trip to London did various similar manoeuvres, e.g. Green Park to Brixton by walking to Victoria and taking Southeastern, or using Maze Hill rather than Greenwich to avoid the mask-mandatory DLR. I don't mind masks myself and I tend to wear them even on National Rail trains, but I think it's important that it be a choice.

 

[seagull]

It is unfortunate that the message about Bank Robber's Friends (aka face coverings) not now being compulsory on most trains is not getting the publicity it needs. Or one could be cynical and wonder if the DfT actually wants trains to remain unused so that they have a better excuse to implement widespread cost cutting exercises...

I happened upon a fairly elderly couple today at a station who were more-or-less having a meltdown because they had forgotten to bring masks and were terrified their planned journey would now not be possible. The look of relief on their faces when told they would be perfectly fine as it wasn't necessary (with the particular operator they were using) was something to behold.

It highlights how much work there is to do to reassure passengers, not helped by varying messages and announcements between and even within operators.

 

[Ianno87]

It is unfortunate that the message about Bank Robber's Friends (aka face coverings) not now being compulsory on most trains is not getting the publicity it needs. Or one could be cynical and wonder if the DfT actually wants trains to remain unused so that they have a better excuse to implement widespread cost cutting exercises...

There are still a heck of alot of people who for the time being (rightly or wrongly) are reassured by masks still being "recommened". Probably more people overall than the "I won't travel whilst they make me wear one" contingent.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

There are still a heck of alot of people who for the time being (rightly or wrongly) are reassured by masks still being "recommened". Probably more people overall than the "I won't travel whilst they make me wear one" contingent.

I heard a rep from NR was on LBC earlier saying masks aren't mandatory on national rail but reiterating that on busy trains and enclosed platforms govt guidance is to continue to wear them if you can. To my mind this is all soft messaging that will progressively see a decline in use of masks which will rapidly accelerate to being the norm as people see others around them removing theres and reinforced by the reduced number of cases. Remember its only a couple of weeks on from the relaxation of rules which have been accompanied by heavy guidance to say keep the masks on so its going to take time to changes peoples behaviour but it will come.

 

[joncombe]

I got a marketing email from EMR today "Great days out begin on the train" promoting days out etc. It's the first time I've seen TOCs encouraging people onto trains rather than trying to put them off since March 2020, so that's welcome. I hope other companies will be doing likewise.

 

[yorksrob]

I've just seen an advert on t'interweb saying that there's a Railcard for me!

I hope that's the case because I've not discovered one yet.

 

[Failed Unit]

I got a marketing email from EMR today "Great days out begin on the train" promoting days out etc. It's the first time I've seen TOCs encouraging people onto trains rather than trying to put them off since March 2020, so that's welcome. I hope other companies will be doing likewise.

I got that aswell. I little early for EMR IMO. They need to get the full service and short formations sorted before they encourage more people back. The current service could put people off.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I got that aswell. I little early for EMR IMO. They need to get the full service and short formations sorted before they encourage more people back. The current service could put people off.

plus the ongoing dispute with RMT

Sunak doing his bit to encourage a return to office



Unfortunately no other paper has run the briefing from NR yesterday on train and station safety from Covid but several have the story inside so the emphasis is now moving in a positive direction.

 

[greyman42]

I’ll be delighted to go back to using the Tube, bus, etc. the moment TfL drops its nonsensical face covering rules.

Yesterday I had to travel from Euston to London Bridge; I walked to St. Pancras and got Thameslink for this reason,

My experience from using the Underground is that no one including staff/police could not care less if you are not wearing a mask

 

[westv]

plus the ongoing dispute with RMT

Sunak doing his bit to encourage a return to office

Looks a bit like a cut and paste from the same sort of articles last year.

 

[3rd rail land]

My experience from using the Underground is that no one including staff/police could not care less if you are not wearing a mask

My experience too. I used the Underground yesterday. Quite a few people weren't wearing a face covering and nobody said anything, including station staff. I did wear a face covering and I wish I hadn't. Whilst it was a pleasant temperature at street level it was quite warm onboard with a face covering on and would have been a more pleasant journey if I hadn't worn one.

Last week I was used a bus without a face covering as an experiment. The driver didn't say anything nor did any of the passengers. I must point I have complied on all TFL services I have used aside from this one short bus ride.

 

[Bikeman78]

The 08:18 up from Cardiff was lightly loaded. Most people had masks, I took mine off at Bristol Parkway. The guard was banging on about them even in England.

Liverpool Street station still has the face covering announcements. Cambridge trains lightly loaded. Nine people on 1252 up in the sixth coach. Two had masks but have taken them off to eat.