How busy have your trains been?

[Richard Scott]

Was on a Gloucester-Cardiff service today, loadings very low in both directions. Easily got a table seat to myself without causing a problem for family groups and this was on a two car unit.

 

[yorksrob]

Sat behind the Betjeman Arms at St Pancras. All is eerily quiet.

The train up from Kent had the traditional boozed up nutter, so not too far from normal !

 

[PTR 444]

Was at Fratton earlier today. The trains to and from Southampton seemed to be back to pre-Covid loadings despite being only up to 4 cars long, yet the services to London were made up of 12 car trains and hardly anyone was on them! I can safely say that GWR are long overdue lengthier trains on their Portsmouth route.

 

[startingaparty]

2202 from MCO to BOL on Saturday night extremely busy, no social distancing possible, many stood in vestubules and down aisles. Entire rear carriage reserved for conductor and other Northern staff. Looks like 10pm is the new rush hour.

 

[Jamesrob637]

2202 from MCO to BOL on Saturday night extremely busy, no social distancing possible, many stood in vestubules and down aisles. Entire rear carriage reserved for conductor and other Northern staff. Looks like 10pm is the new rush hour.

How many carriages was that one out of curiosity?

 

[philosopher]

I was on the 11:50 Avanti West Coast service from New Street to Euston today which consisted of two voyagers. In my carriage (B) in the rear unit I was the only passenger in the entire carriage for the whole journey. When the train arrived at Euston it looked like around 50 passengers disembarked, almost all in the front unit.

 

[MDB1images]

A few weeks ago I mentioned that every time I worked a train it was busier than the previous time(so a slow positive upturn), have noticed the reverse of late (so a slow negative downturn).

Overall it's still very difficult to predict what is going to be a busy service as the passenger flows for long distance can really vary from day to day let alone week to week.

 

[trainophile]

The 1349 Alderley Edge to Southport emptied out at Wigan Wallgate where I boarded. Shared the front one of the four carriages with two other people, one of whom got out at Appley Bridge. Considering Merseyrail are being negative about non-essential travel (I tweeted them and was told to abide by the government advice - I replied "advice, not the law then?" and got no reply) I would have thought the Northern services via Wigan would have been busier.

Good to see they are back to two TPH to Southport, although I wonder if it's worth their while.

 

[route101]

Yesterday, peak East Kilbride to Glasgow Central, lightly loaded maybe 15 got off in Glasgow.

HST from Queen St to Perth , lightly loaded too.

 

[james60059]

Friday 25th September.

Was at Tamworth Station from 08:30, car park only 15%-ish full. More enthusiasts on Platform 1 than passengers - 40145 was due. Looking inside 1U25 07:46 London Euston - Crewe, which was 2 x Class 350's (8 cars), I counted 38 passengers throughout the train. 3 boarded at Tamworth and 2 got off. Didn't have a look at the top level part.

 

[Jamesrob637]

29/09/20 - two very short journeys:

17:42 Grimsby Town to Cleethorpes - only a handful of people on the 15:18 6-car service from Manchester. Annoyingly there is no 19:26 return so waited (mostly in Wetherspoon!) for the 20:26 3-car back, which had maybe ten on board maximum. To be fair I don't think Cleethorpes was hourly in the evening even pre-COVID - there were and are a few gaps. The "effective" 19:26 I believe starts at Doncaster at 20:40, and the 20:26 is only booked 3-car, COVID or no COVID. There is a 21:26 6-car but it only runs as far as Sheffield: again I think this is the case regardless of COVID as it positions units in Sheffield for the stupidly early service to Manchester Airport.

 

[Starmill]

29/09/20 - two very short journeys:

17:42 Grimsby Town to Cleethorpes - only a handful of people on the 15:18 6-car service from Manchester. Annoyingly there is no 19:26 return so waited (mostly in Wetherspoon!) for the 20:26 3-car back, which had maybe ten on board maximum. To be fair I don't think Cleethorpes was hourly in the evening even pre-COVID - there were and are a few gaps. The "effective" 19:26 I believe starts at Doncaster at 20:40, and the 20:26 is only booked 3-car, COVID or no COVID. There is a 21:26 6-car but it only runs as far as Sheffield: again I think this is the case regardless of COVID as it positions units in Sheffield for the stupidly early service to Manchester Airport.

The 0926, 1326, 1726 and 1926 from Cleethorpes are not currently running but all were until recently. A new departure from Cleethorpes at 2309 was introduced too but seems to have vanished.

 

[Jamesrob637]

The 0926, 1326, 1726 and 1926 from Cleethorpes are not currently running but all were until recently. A new departure from Cleethorpes at 2309 was introduced too but seems to have vanished.

Oh ok thanks for that. My friend looked on a system only accessible to rail staff such as himself and that seemed to imply that there were gaps in the timetable even pre-COVID.

 

[NorthWestRover]

My experiences in Northern Land similar to @Jamesrob637. I went to Buxton from Wigan on the day he did his Cheshire Day Ranger. Small diversion via Stalybridge on the way back (you can probably guess why). Off peak, peak, all the routes low numbers.

Today I went from Wigan into Manchester. Morning just after the peak. Returned 17.05 off Oxford Road to Salford Crescent, then 17.22 Salford Crescent to Wigan (Pacer!). Those two peak services were probably 20% occupied, if that.

Manchester City Centre was also quiet.

 

[NorthWestRover]

PS I wouldn't have got a seat on that 17.22 off Salford Crescent pre-covid as it would have been rammed leaving Vic, at least as far as Atherton.

 

[Jamesrob637]

PS I wouldn't have got a seat on that 17.22 off Salford Crescent pre-covid as it would have been rammed leaving Vic, at least as far as Atherton.

Were your trains all 4-car to boot?

 

[route101]

Glasgow Central was fairly busy at 1620 yesterday, i guess to do with a lot of schoolkids from the private schools getting trains back to their homes, often Southside.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Yes, all 4 car DMUs and 6 car EMUs. Good for social distancing, but frustrating that 12 months ago they were normally only 2.

 

[yorksrob]

Haallam line stopper is now quite busy, but usually a manky 2 carriage 150.

 

[telstarbox]

Southeastern Metro remains fairly quiet but the Jubilee line now has all seats full in the rush hour.

 

[rg177]

1431 Sunderland to Hexham on Northern, 2 car 156.

About 20% full, messages on the screens telling us we're all very naughty for using the service as it's for "essential travel only".

Meanwhile Go North East are opting for "we're encouraging safe journeys". Guess which mode has more passengers?

 

[trainophile]

TfW for some unknown reason put a 2-coach 150 on the 1231 Man Picc to Milford Haven today. Needless to say it was pretty full by current standards, although obviously these aren't normal times or it would have been rammed.

As an aside, my bus home from the station has a notice on the door saying "please leave an empty row behind and in front of you". Well the local college must finish early on a Friday because every seat was taken, not just one person on a double seat but not a vacant seat on the whole bus. Makes a bit of a mockery of the instructions.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

As an aside, my bus home from the station has a notice on the door saying "please leave an empty row behind and in front of you".

I think that was the policy before 1m+ distancing. Now it's one household per double seat (and supposed to be a zig-zag formation).

 

[trainophile]

I think that was the policy before 1m+ distancing. Now it's one household per double seat (and supposed to be a zig-zag formation).

Well I'm sure all those students weren't from the same households. Some oldies were doubling up beside students when they got on at later stops. Unless they increase capacity to match demand they might as well scrap the distancing thing completely.

 

[james60059]

About 20% full, messages on the screens telling us we're all very naughty for using the service as it's for "essential travel only".

Meanwhile Go North East are opting for "we're encouraging safe journeys". Guess which mode has more passengers?

They're a bit slow, as that "essential travel only" mantra was dropped ages ago - unless they've took it upon themselves to reinstate it again.

To answer your question though, I guess that the Go Ahead service had more passengers?

 

[rg177]

The North East is technically "essential travel only" again. Though, I don't think it's being paid much attention. Certainly, what remains of the hospitality industry in the region would be on its knees.

Indeed, the GNE posters are designed to reflect that advice, basically saying that they wish to encourage sensible travel so long as you wear a face covering and keep your distance where possible.

Keeping on topic, yesterday's observations:

1734 TPE from Scarborough to York (3*185) was about 20% full in the rear carriage. Seemed to about 30 or so on the platform at Scarborough with about 40 getting off at York where the service terminated.

1921 TPE from York to Newcastle (5*802). Only four others in Coach A and one other by the time I arrived at Newcastle. No carriage was more than 15% full.

 

[greyman42]

The North East is technically "essential travel only" again. Though, I don't think it's being paid much attention. Certainly, what remains of the hospitality industry in the region would be on its knees.

Indeed, the GNE posters are designed to reflect that advice, basically saying that they wish to encourage sensible travel so long as you wear a face covering and keep your distance where possible.

Keeping on topic, yesterday's observations:

1734 TPE from Scarborough to York (3*185) was about 20% full in the rear carriage. Seemed to about 30 or so on the platform at Scarborough with about 40 getting off at York where the service terminated.

1921 TPE from York to Newcastle (5*802). Only four others in Coach A and one other by the time I arrived at Newcastle. No carriage was more than 15% full.

I think a lot of day trippers could of been put of by the weather. I was in York yesterday afternoon and it was much quieter than a normal Saturday.

 

[OliverH68]

Was on LNER yesterday and today.

0930 KGX - EDB yesterday, standard class seemed busy on departure from Kings X. First class was dead - me and my friend were literally the only ones in coach L for the entire duration of the journey! Think the other 2 coaches only had a tiny handful of pax in them.

1244 EDB-KGX today, coach L was a bit busier but probably only had a maximum of 10 people at any one time throughout the journey. Don't know what standard was like.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Was at Fratton earlier today. The trains to and from Southampton seemed to be back to pre-Covid loadings despite being only up to 4 cars long, yet the services to London were made up of 12 car trains and hardly anyone was on them! I can safely say that GWR are long overdue lengthier trains on their Portsmouth route.

The majority of the Cardiff to Portsmouth services are now back to 5 cars. 0927 from Cardiff was 165+166 today (previously this has been a 158).

 

[greyman42]

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