The Queen's lying in state.

[1018509]

Is it likely that we will see a 24 hour rail service into London for the Queen's lying in state bearing in mind the number of people who will want to attend?

 

[AM9]

Is it likely that we will see a 24 hour rail service into London for the Queen's lying in state bearing in mind the number of people who will want to attend?

I doubt it. The overnight slots will more likely be used by those in the south-east using TfL and the overnight services that already run.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

I doubt it. The overnight slots will more likely be used by those in the south-east using TfL and the overnight services that already run.

Engineering works too which regularly happen at night.

 

[JonathanH]

Is it likely that we will see a 24 hour rail service into London for the Queen's lying in state bearing in mind the number of people who will want to attend?

No, very unlikely. I can't imagine how that would even start to be resourced even if it were needed, and judging the demand (which might be tiny). In practice, people work around normal schedules if they want to attend major events at short notice (and there is generally plenty of room aboard last trains towards London in any case).

 

[ABDeltic]

I think there may be a demand given the lying in state is open 23 hours and TOCs have plans to run overnight trains. I think it will be a developing story as the week progresses.

 

[theageofthetra]

I think there may be a demand given the lying in state is open 23 hours and TOCs have plans to run overnight trains. I think it will be a developing story as the week progresses.

I've certainly volunteered to work overnight services if they happen

 

[Bald Rick]

There will be some additional trains overnight, on some lines. Not many, but some.

The queue to see the Queen could be very, very long, therefore it won’t make much difference if you join at 3am compared to 7am.

 

[Goldfish62]

There will be some additional trains overnight, on some lines. Not many, but some.

Indeed. I was told that this morning by an industry insider.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Has the railway even decided that the funeral Monday (Sept 19) is an off-peak day (ie no time restrictions)?
There is some guidance in this RDG announcement, but it mostly negative (eg choose your destination carefully).

Queen Elizabeth II: Trains to London likely to be 'extremely busy'

Travel in the mourning period for the Queen is likely to be "extremely busy", the rail operator warns.

www.bbc.co.uk

On the day of the funeral, the Rail Delivery Group said it would not be possible to view both the funeral in London and then travel to Windsor where Her Majesty will be laid to rest.
The advice is to choose to view one or the other, and to leave plenty of time to get there.
The majority of tickets purchased before the Queen's death will be exchangeable or refundable until 18:00 the day before travel, with no administration charge. The advice is to check with your rail operator.

But what are the individual TOCs saying?

 

[dk1]

24hr rail service will operate from Colchester, Southend Victoria & Stansted Airport into Liverpool Street through to next Monday. Also plans for a later service to Norwich somewhere between 00:30 & 01:00.

 

[sammyg901]

Monday 19th is a Bank Holiday for restrictions (I.e. no peak) per nationalrail.co.uk

 

[Surreytraveller]

Is it likely that we will see a 24 hour rail service into London for the Queen's lying in state bearing in mind the number of people who will want to attend?

Not many companies will have enough drivers available

 

[mm333]

I hope there’s an easy way of adding an extra bank holiday to all the dates in the National Rail database.

 

[dk1]

Not many companies will have enough drivers available

The usual suspects certainly won’t.

 

[KingJ]

GTR told stakeholders the following on Friday;

We will be running extra services, including overnight trains, to help people who wish to pay their respects get to central London to sign the book of condolence and to observe The Queen’s lying in state.

Extra details are to follow over the next few days. They are one of the few operators that already run overnight trains of course, the Bedford - Three Bridges flow through the Thameslink core.

 

[ld0595]

Scotrail look to be operating an hourly service between Edinburgh and Glasgow through Monday night into Tuesday.

 

[brad465]

There will be some additional trains overnight, on some lines. Not many, but some.

The queue to see the Queen could be very, very long, therefore it won’t make much difference if you join at 3am compared to 7am.

Presumably the length of the queue to see the Queen means it's not just whether one travels in the middle of night to join at say 3am, but if, for example they joined early evening and queued long enough to miss the last train home on a normal timetable.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Presumably the length of the Queen means it's not just whether one travels in the middle of night to join at say 3am, but if, for example they joined early evening and queued long enough to miss the last train home on a normal timetable.

I don't think it is the length of the Queen that is the issue. She was only 5'4".

 

[brad465]

I don't think it is the length of the Queen that is the issue. She was only 5'4".

Oops, corrected

 

[Goldfish62]

Presumably the length of the queue to see the Queen means it's not just whether one travels in the middle of night to join at say 3am, but if, for example they joined early evening and queued long enough to miss the last train home on a normal timetable.

Exactly. Queuing is expected to be up to 30 hours so whatever time you join at there'll be absolutely no estimate of when you might get away. In many cases that will be overnight.

 

[PTR 444]

Exactly. Queuing is expected to be up to 30 hours so whatever time you join at there'll be absolutely no estimate of when you might get away. In many cases that will be overnight.

How will the queuing work? Will people have to book an allocated time slot or is it simply a case of wait in line, in which case how will a queue of such significant length be managed?

 

[AM9]

How will the queuing work? Will people have to book an allocated time slot or is it simply a case of wait in line, in which case how will a queue of such significant length be managed?

It will probably not be as long as one might imagine as there will be no settling down in a sleeping bag, nor reserving places. The queue will be constantly moving albeit slowly so after 24hrs, its busy and quiet times will be known.

 

[Goldfish62]

How will the queuing work? Will people have to book an allocated time slot or is it simply a case of wait in line, in which case how will a queue of such significant length be managed?

Just turn up.

This has all been in planning for many years.

 

[dk1]

Remember going to see the Queen Mother at Windsor. Was only around a 3hr queue for that and strictly no stopping or photographing the coffin.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Exactly. Queuing is expected to be up to 30 hours so whatever time you join at there'll be absolutely no estimate of when you might get away. In many cases that will be overnight.

Who is expecting queuing to be 30 hours? How many people would be prepared to queue for that long?

When you look at it sensibly, older people are the most likely to want to see the Queen lying in state and they are not going to queue for 1 1/2 days. I would expect queues to be perhaps 3 - 5 hours but 12, 18, 24, 36 hour predictions are simply not credible.

 

[Goldfish62]

Who is expecting queuing to be 30 hours?

Those involved in the planning of Operation London Bridge and who have been meeting on an almost weekly basis for the past few years. But then what do they know...?

 

[Starmill]

I hope there’s an easy way of adding an extra bank holiday to all the dates in the National Rail database.

The data is frequently wrong even for additional bank holidays which are known about many months in advance.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Sep 2022 ==

Who is expecting queuing to be 30 hours? How many people would be prepared to queue for that long?

When you look at it sensibly, older people are the most likely to want to see the Queen lying in state and they are not going to queue for 1 1/2 days. I would expect queues to be perhaps 3 - 5 hours but 12, 18, 24, 36 hour predictions are simply not credible.

Normally you'd say that the queue would be self-regulating once it goes above around four hours, because most people can't physically tolerate sitting or standing around doing not much for longer than that. However, given the strong feeling among some of those grieving the loss of the Queen it may become fairly extreme. Hopefully we don't end up with lots of people making themselves ill.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Those involved in the planning of Operation London Bridge and who have been meeting on an almost weekly basis for the past few years. But then what do they know...?

Not much apparently if they are expecting hundreds of thousands or millions of people to queue for 30 hours without the use of a toilet or sleep. It's not as though you can pitch a tent in a moving queue.

 

[Starmill]

Not much apparently if they are expecting hundreds of thousands or millions of people to queue for 30 hours without the use of a toilet or sleep. It's not as though you can pitch a tent in a moving queue.

I would imagine that the provision of toilet facilities in the queue has been thought of. Along with the security screening it would surely be the first thing you'd think of with any event of this size. Same for after the exit.

 

[DarloRich]

Not much apparently if they are expecting hundreds of thousands or millions of people to queue for 30 hours without the use of a toilet or sleep. It's not as though you can pitch a tent in a moving queue.

Portaloos have bene brought into Edinburgh to "service" the needs of the crowds so I am sure the same will happen in London. This has all been planned down to the smallest detail.

I expect the time in the queues to observe the lying in state to be insane. People suggesting 3 or 5 hours are off the mark.