One quirk about Britain's rail services is that a lot of them tend to be a hybrid of limited stop express and local services, particularly London commuter services which start off as an express but stop at more stations further down the line. This is different from countries such as France and Belgium, where express/intercity trains are more clearly defined and only serve the major towns/cities, while local trains are left to pick up the stations in between with many of these having no direct service to the country's capital city. The reason for the quirk in the UK is down to the fact that we are a very densely populated country with a far reaching commuter belt out of London, but as usual commute is becoming a thing of the past, is this the perfect time to follow the continental two-tiered approach?
I propose that services in the UK are split into two tiers with there being a clear distinction between the two through branding: Intercity would be for the express services out of London Termini and cross country, only calling at major stations and charging more for tickets, while Local would be for services that connect the minor stations in between, although not as many would run through to the London as they do now. There could be a third "Metro" brand for London suburban services although this would be functionally similar to Local services. If social distancing is to continue for the long term, this approach could work as reservations would be compulsory on Intercity services, while Local services would see limited long distance users due to their stopping nature.
Also I forgot to add that train lengths will be maximised where possible. It would mean fewer services although capacity would remain about the same as it did before lockdown.
I propose that services in the UK are split into two tiers with there being a clear distinction between the two through branding: Intercity would be for the express services out of London Termini and cross country, only calling at major stations and charging more for tickets, while Local would be for services that connect the minor stations in between, although not as many would run through to the London as they do now. There could be a third "Metro" brand for London suburban services although this would be functionally similar to Local services. If social distancing is to continue for the long term, this approach could work as reservations would be compulsory on Intercity services, while Local services would see limited long distance users due to their stopping nature.
Also I forgot to add that train lengths will be maximised where possible. It would mean fewer services although capacity would remain about the same as it did before lockdown.