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How busy have your trains been?

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Jamesrob637

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On Monday 5 October i caught the 1157 York to Kings Cross. The coach i was in had only 4 passengers including myself.

That's a bit concerning. Okay that train wouldn't have been rammed pre-COVID but nonetheless...
 
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philjo

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How busy is the Northern Line between Kings Cross to Golders Green? Weekdays, Around 8:30 - 9am northbound and 4pm southbound. Thanks
 

peteb

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Travelled a bit round Worcestershire into Birmingham on Friday last. Kidderminster to Worcester 5 car 172 train off peak: quiet but not empty, average 8 to 10 per carriage. Worcester to Birmingham New St service 4 car 170 also quiet, similar loadings. New St to Worcestershire Parkway 3 car 170 fairly busy incoming from Nottingham at Birmingham, but quiet heading to Cardiff from Birmingham. FGW Worcestershire Parkway to Hereford 5 car Class 80x busiest train of the day but assume this because only 3.5 carriages of standard class. Still masses of empty seats and window seats were available.
 

greyman42

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A friend is currently on the 1700 Kings Cross to Newcastle. He has the coach to himself.
 

Andy Pacer

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West Midlands Trains reasonable loading from Marston Green to New St this morning though obviously quieter than pre Covid.

0812 XC HST down to Bristol was quiet, I'd expect this to usually be quite busy. Probably only 4 of us in my carriage as far as Cheltenham Spa and a few more from there.

Now on the 0945 Bristol to Weymouth, 4 others in my carriage leaving Bradford Upon Avon.
 

james60059

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08/10/20.

1L48 16:22 Birmingham New Street - Leicester (2x2 car Class 170's) past me on the outskirts of Hinckley, as I was waiting for the Colas 67's and 60 on tanks. As it was crawling by (right up the backside of 6M40) I had a good look inside the train and it wasn't that full. In fact I'd say you would have squeezed everyone into 2 coaches and still had plenty of room to spare.
 

trainophile

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The most surprising thing I have noticed was on my day trip from Carlisle to North Berwick yesterday. Eight coach 385s from Edinburgh to North Berwick and back, both ways with probably about a dozen people on board. Very nice to have a whole coach to myself, but not very good use of the stock. Pretty sure they were 2x4's coupled up, so could easily have managed with 1x4s.
 

Andy Pacer

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Had a reasonably busy XC train yesterday, 1835 Bristol to Leeds. 8 car class 220. Obviously not as busy as normal but with the window seat only capacity reduction then it never would be!
 
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on the summer bank holiday I got the train from Norwich To Cromer and it was very busy(by covid standards), Id say Just Under 200 People on the 4 car train. I also got the train Norwich to Wymondham in early August and it was Quite Quiet, Id say around 50 people on the 4 car train.
 

Andy Pacer

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0812 Northern service from Sheffield to Manchester via Hope Valley well loaded, so far mainly due to walkers heading for Edale. 3 car 195.
 

yorksrob

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0812 Northern service from Sheffield to Manchester via Hope Valley well loaded, so far mainly due to walkers heading for Edale. 3 car 195.

Good news they've got a 3-carriage after many years of 2 carriage pacers/150's.
 

Andy Pacer

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Good news they've got a 3-carriage after many years of 2 carriage pacers/150's.
Yes I thought that. Most doubles I could see were taken by someone, and some of the tables were occupied by groups of four. Having now passed Edale and many have alighted it will be interesting to see how many get on at the stations on the approach to Manchester.
 

yorksrob

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Yes I thought that. Most doubles I could see were taken by someone, and some of the tables were occupied by groups of four. Having now passed Edale and many have alighted it will be interesting to see how many get on at the stations on the approach to Manchester.

Northern could well be the busiest franchise in the country right now.

It really wouldn't surprise me.
 

Andy Pacer

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Northern could well be the busiest franchise in the country right now.

It really wouldn't surprise me.
I think you're right. There seems to be plenty of evidence that local/regional services are busier than 'intercity' type routes so I guess Northern's network and densely populated large towns and cities could well make it amongst the busiest.
 

HST43257

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To out it simply, I’m finding intercity services like LNER ones to be very quiet but local services are very busy in many situations.
 

Andy Pacer

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To out it simply, I’m finding intercity services like LNER ones to be very quiet but local services are very busy in many situations.
My experience concurs too. I did some reasonable distance XC trips on Thursday and some local(ish) GWR in between and those definitely felt busier.
 

Jamesrob637

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Northern have done well to reverse their "essential travel only" and most of their trains are booked 4-car right now. Be interesting to see what happens when the full timetable is restored in December.
 

Andy Pacer

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Northern have done well to reverse their "essential travel only" and most of their trains are booked 4-car right now. Be interesting to see what happens when the full timetable is restored in December.
Needless to say the Reddish South to Stalybridge service was the usual handful of enthusiasts!
 

Jamesrob637

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Needless to say the Reddish South to Stalybridge service was the usual handful of enthusiasts!

Wow that's grand of Northern to have reinstated the Parliamentary when they haven't reinstated hourly all day to Chester via Altrincham or the second Buxton all day.
 

Andy Pacer

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Wow that's grand of Northern to have reinstated the Parliamentary when they haven't reinstated hourly all day to Chester via Altrincham or the second Buxton all day.
I assumed it must be to do with what the diagram does for the rest of the day which enables it to continue operating, but I see your point. Must be galling for those people who (used to) use Rose Hill Marple too.
 

alex397

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I’ve travelled through London to visit the Isle of Wight over recent days.

Southeastern High Speed is getting busier. A post-9am journey to London was quite busy, roughly one person per every double seat, on a 6-car.

Victoria Line is the busiest railway line I’ve travelled on post-lockdown. Every seat taken and people standing, on a journey just before midday.

Southern from Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour was fairly quiet, but this was a 12-car service at around midday (4-car after Horsham). It seemed more people got on at Clapham Juntion and East Croydon than compared to Victoria. A handful with luggage got off at Gatwick. It got quite busy with maskless school and college students along the south coast.

Island Line got busy on services meeting ferries at the Pier Head, sometimes with standing passengers. Other journeys fairly quiet, sometimes having a carriage to myself. However, this seemed no different to my experience of this line in 2018.

SWT from Portsmouth to Clapham Junction was fairly quiet until reaching Guildford and Woking. Watching the service leave at Clapham, roughly 10 people per carriage.

Clapham Junction was very busy. I haven’t seen a station like that since before lockdown. But, that’s probably only the 3rd or 4th time I’ve been to that station, so can’t really compare it to normal times.

Victoria Line busy again Vauxhall-Kings Cross. I was quite uncomfortable with people sitting all around me and standing right by me. I do find busy Tubes overwhelming even before Covid though.

An early evening Southeastern High Speed from St Pancras to Kent was fairly busy, with roughly one person per every double seat. Before lockdown, these departures were often completely full, sometimes with no more room even for standing passengers.
 
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yorksrob

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I’ve travelled through London to visit the Isle of Wight over recent days.

Southeastern High Speed is getting busier. A post-9am journey to London was quite busy, roughly one person per every double seat, on a 6-car.

Victoria Line is the busiest railway line I’ve travelled on post-lockdown. Every seat taken and people standing, on a journey just before midday.

Southern from Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour was fairly quiet, but this was a 12-car service at around midday (4-car after Horsham). It seemed more people got on at Clapham Juntion and East Croydon than compared to Victoria. A handful with luggage got off at Gatwick. It got quite busy with maskless school and college students along the south coast.

Island Line got busy on services meeting ferries at the Pier Head, sometimes with standing passengers. Other journeys fairly quiet, sometimes having a carriage to myself. However, this seemed no different to my experience of this line in 2018.

SWT from Portsmouth to Clapham Junction was fairly quiet until reaching Guildford and Woking. Watching the service leave at Clapham, roughly 10 people per carriage.

Victoria Line busy again Vauxhall-Kings Cross. I was quite uncomfortable with people sitting all around me and standing right by me. I do find busy Tubes overwhelming even before Covid though.

An early evening Southeastern High Speed from St Pancras to Kent was fairly busy, with roughly one person per every double seat. Before lockdown, this service was often completely full, sometimes with no more room for any standing passengers.

Indeed. I far prefer the classic routes in Kent for a bit of space !
 

route101

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With Scotrails essential only message services in Scotland are going to be quiet. I've noticed things getting quieter this week.
 

greyman42

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I travelled from York to London yesterday on the 1157. There were 6 people, including myself, in my carriage.
 

gaillark

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Was on the 1306 KX to Retford and on the 1641 back.
In my carriage coach L first class there were 11 on the way up and 10 on the return. There were also quite a few in K.
Most surprisingly there also was an American tourist heading to York chatting away with another passenger towards the rear.!
 

Andy Pacer

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I caught the late running 1542 Picc to Peterborough EMR service. Fairly busy on the platform and a fair few people on the train but nothing like a usual Saturday on that route where trains would routinely leave full and standing.
 

HBP

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Coming back last night on the 20.00 LNER KGX to York with 8 passengers in the carriage. Oddly the reservations system clumped us all together in about 5 rows in the centre of the train whilst the rest of the coach was empty. First stop was York so no other passengers were going to get on before then.
 

Jamesrob637

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I caught the late running 1542 Picc to Peterborough EMR service. Fairly busy on the platform and a fair few people on the train but nothing like a usual Saturday on that route where trains would routinely leave full and standing.

Stupid local train broke down at Flixton. If anybody knows what was working that I'd be interested.
 
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