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Hope Valley Line travel on Saturday 4th July

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Intercity 225

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Hi,

Five of us will be travelling from the Sheffield direction to Hathersage on Saturday - we need to be there for noon.

Three of us will be setting off from Sheffield itself and two are planning to board at Dore & Totley.

We’re looking to get the 11:14 from Sheffield but it would be great to get your advice on a few things:

1. Are services expected to be busier than they have been recently now lockdown is being eased further?

2. If so, could this impact on our travel plans? For example, is it possible that we might not be able to board the 11:14 and would it be sensible to travel earlier?

3. Would it be wise for the two planning to board at Dore to set off from Sheffield instead and all five of us start the journey together?

4. Would pre-booking tickets increase the likelihood of us being able to travel and are there any group saver style tickets we can use to save some money?

Many thanks for any assistance provided.
 
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dave87016

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I may be wrong on both of my points but I’m afraid :

A) travel from July 4th is still only for essential journeys only

B) on public transport you must not sit with anyone unless they are from the same household

I hope I am wrong as I to am waiting for leisure travel on the rails to be allowed again
 
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Intercity 225

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Thank you for your reply.

As I understand it rail travel is now permitted if there’s no realistic alternative - that applies in our case. Have I got that wrong?

It goes without saying that all of us will be wearing face masks and those that don’t live together will be keeping over 2 metres apart from one another. Sitting even further apart whilst onboard the train is absolutely fine if necessary - just need to be able to travel.
 

ForTheLoveOf

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Are services expected to be busier than they have been recently now lockdown is being eased further?
I would expect services to be somewhat busier. However, busier might mean the difference between the current 5-10% loadings, and 10-20%. In other words, in actual terms, not a lot. The TOCs are still pulling out all the stops to try and make passengers go away.

If so, could this impact on our travel plans? For example, is it possible that we might not be able to board the 11:14 and would it be sensible to travel earlier?
I guess it's theoretically possible, if the "social distancing" capacity of the train is reached and they insist no further passengers are allowed. But that strikes me as very unlikely given the loadings reported by the likes of @Killingworth. I wouldn't inconvenience yourself by planning to take an earlier train.

Would it be wise for the two planning to board at Dore to set off from Sheffield instead and all five of us start the journey together?
It might give you a better chance of being able to sit together or near each other, but again, the likelihood of the train being so busy that this is difficult to guarantee strikes me as very low. I wouldn't inconvenience yourself by specially going to Sheffield rather than Dore.

Would pre-booking tickets increase the likelihood of us being able to travel and are there any group saver style tickets we can use to save some money?
Booking tickets beforehand may be advisable, as it guarantees the right to delay compensation if for whatever reason the train is cancelled or you are unable to board. Northern sells Duo tickets that are valid for 2 people travelling together and offer a saving of 25% over buying tickets at full fare, but these are not available from Sheffield to Hathersage. 5 people is not a sufficiently large group for it to be something you'd contact Group Bookings for, and for one journey of this low a value it's not worthwhile getting Two Together Railcards.

travel from July 4th is still only for essential journeys only
Northern might say that, but they are not asking people for their reason for travel before buying tickets, nor am I aware of them denying travel based on the reason for the journey, nor is that in keeping with the Government's guidance (let alone the legislation, which has never had any definition of, or ban on, "non-essential" journeys).

In short, trains are available for all to use for any reason. People are asked to consider other forms of transport but they are by no means obligated to do so.

on public transport you must not sit with anyone unless they are from the same household
That may be some operators' policy but it is not what the law says, certainly not from 4 July onwards, when any group of two [linked] households' members can lawfully have an indoor gathering. I would also dispute any suggestion that sitting near another passenger necessarily involves holding a gathering with them, but that is another question entirely.
 

Intercity 225

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Thank you for such a detailed and informative reply!

I'll share the info with the others I'm travelling with and I'm sure they'll appreciate your assistance too - cheers.
 

WesternLancer

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Thank you for such a detailed and informative reply!

I'll share the info with the others I'm travelling with and I'm sure they'll appreciate your assistance too - cheers.
I may be over cautious but personally I would (to be on the safe side) commence journey from Sheffield rather than Dore if part of a group - as this permits being on the platform to be sure to get on at start.

Use Real Time Trains to work out which platform it will be on ahead of the public screen info (and work out when the train arrives from it's inbound trip on the platform - presumably from Manchester, so you can be amongst 1st to board).

This is for any reason that the Guard decides, which may be unlikely admittedly, to leave anyone behind anywhere, it's highly unlikely to be you and your travel companions.
 

CaptainHaddock

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Most (but not all) Hope Valley trains have been running as 2 x 150 units, ie 4 coaches instead of the usual two, so there should be few problems finding a seat.

That said, I can well imagine that there could be a number of groups desperate to do a Hope Valley pub crawl this coming saturday so there's no way of knowing what impact the reopening of the hospitality industry will have on train loadings.

Oh and if you've not travelled with Northern for a while be aware they've gone crazy with putting "out of use" notices on most of the seats both on trains and on platforms but, so long as you remember your face masks, I would advise you to ignore them and sit where you like!
 

island

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Nor is it correct that, in England, “you must not sit with anyone unless they are from the same household”. This has only ever held the status of a recommendation. ”You should not” or “you are asked not to” would be accurate.
 

johnnychips

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There were five people on the 1014 on the Saturday just gone on a 2x150. It picked up after Chinley and into Manchester. However the 1011 TPE preceded it. If TPE is still every two hours, you might get through Sheffield to Manchester passengers who normally would have taken the 1111 TPE.
 

Intercity 225

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Thank you for all the additional replies - really useful advice.

I’ll recommend to the guys that are thinking of boarding at Dore to meet us in Sheffield instead, just in case there’s an influx of additional passengers. It’s won’t be that much more inconvenient for them anyway because they live pretty much equidistant between the two stations.
 

Jamesrob637

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Most (but not all) Hope Valley trains have been running as 2 x 150 units, ie 4 coaches instead of the usual two, so there should be few problems finding a seat.

That said, I can well imagine that there could be a number of groups desperate to do a Hope Valley pub crawl this coming saturday so there's no way of knowing what impact the reopening of the hospitality industry will have on train loadings.

Oh and if you've not travelled with Northern for a while be aware they've gone crazy with putting "out of use" notices on most of the seats both on trains and on platforms but, so long as you remember your face masks, I would advise you to ignore them and sit where you like!

Hope Valley services were going to be 4 from May even without COVID.
 

Jamesrob637

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There were five people on the 1014 on the Saturday just gone on a 2x150. It picked up after Chinley and into Manchester. However the 1011 TPE preceded it. If TPE is still every two hours, you might get through Sheffield to Manchester passengers who normally would have taken the 1111 TPE.

TPE is plugging some missing hours from Monday but not all. If it were a school report I'd give it a 5 out of 10 - "could do better!"
 

Killingworth

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Northern trains have been 4 car since May. The rear carriage may be 'full' on Saturday, the next might be full, but there is likely to be plenty of space in the front two. The front carriage is often empty at Dore & Totley, although word may be getting round about that and there might be as many as 3 or 4 aboard by Saturday.
 
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