Transport leaders urge Government to change its messaging on avoiding trains and buses

[Mag_seven]

Not everywhere. 10 mins ago:

EMR - " EMR will continue to operate its advertised timetable to help key workers and those who must use public transport to travel to work and make other essential journeys. Everyone else should follow government advice and limit their travel."

Scotrail - "Do not travel unless your journey is absolutely necessary. ScotRail is playing a critical role during the Coronavirus crisis to provide transport for those who absolutely have to travel."

This is ridiculous - our taxes are paying for this!

 

[Huntergreed]

Not everywhere. 10 mins ago:

EMR - " EMR will continue to operate its advertised timetable to help key workers and those who must use public transport to travel to work and make other essential journeys. Everyone else should follow government advice and limit their travel."

Scotrail - "Do not travel unless your journey is absolutely necessary. ScotRail is playing a critical role during the Coronavirus crisis to provide transport for those who absolutely have to travel."

I thought this stopped weeks ago but I've been proven wrong.

Saw someone on Scotrail twitter ask whether trains could be used for leisure and the answer was 'absolutely not!'.

 

[43096]

This is ridiculous - our taxes are paying for this!

Sooner or later the Treasury will re-assert its control and stop paying for this nonsense. Round here they appear to be running a full peak service despite the majority of passengers normally being office commuters; the vast majority of who are working from home and will be for who knows how long. It’s an utter waste.

 

[Epic]

The Treasury don't seem that concerned about current expenditure, finding endless funds for all kinds of things, it's just unreal! As for commuters I think that a vast amount of those working from home will continue to do so and combine that with those who seem fearful to go out for leisure trips then I think we are looking at a long term reduction in passenger numbers because I'm pretty certain that the "virus" will be here for a long time....

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The Treasury don't seem that concerned about current expenditure, finding endless funds for all kinds of things, it's just unreal! As for commuters I think that a vast amount of those working from home will continue to do so and combine that with those who seem fearful to go out for leisure trips then I think we are looking at a long term reduction in passenger numbers because I'm pretty certain that the "virus" will be here for a long time....

Epic the firefighting is over and Treasury are on the offensive so whilst the industry will continue to receive a financial settlement (aka subsidy) never known in the industries history I reckon they will continue with same Emergency Measures Agreements for 6-12mths on the basis that revenue will continue to recover albeit to what level isn't clear but certainly less than what it was.

 

[CalF]

This is ridiculous - our taxes are paying for this!

Scotrail are being absolutely ludicrous and it won’t be long before the hospitality industry tells them so.

We have a situation now where shops, bars, restaurants and hotels are open but people absolutely shouldn’t use public transport to get to them! People are unlikely to want to go shopping and for a bite to eat by car so they just won’t go.

It also doesn’t help that scotrail seem to be maintaining a crisis timetable that stops before 10pm in most places and sees no services at all on the Glasgow -Edinburgh route from 2015-2215.

 

[yorksrob]

It also doesn’t help that scotrail seem to be maintaining a crisis timetable that stops before 10pm in most places and sees no services at all on the Glasgow -Edinburgh route from 2015-2215.

Sounds very much like Northern.

 

[Epic]

Epic the firefighting is over and Treasury are on the offensive so whilst the industry will continue to receive a financial settlement (aka subsidy) never known in the industries history I reckon they will continue with same Emergency Measures Agreements for 6-12mths on the basis that revenue will continue to recover albeit to what level isn't clear but certainly less than what it was.

Nicholas, I don't think that anything is clear anymore! Let's hope the recovery starts soon.

 

[infobleep]

The messaging changed today.

You mean the removal of the message that says: Do not travel by train for leisure? That wasn't in place at Guildford Station on Tuesday evening but today it was still in place at Motspur Park, as shown in the photo below.



However Tuesday evening I still saw a poster at Guildford Station saying is your journey necessary? I took a photo of it, which is below. My trip was purely a lesiure trip. Simple as that. Are lesiure trips necessary if you don't have any mental health needs? Depends what one defines as necessary.


Now for some weeks the government have not been saying essential travel only or do not travel by train for lesiure, yet the TOCs have been! Has the government been saying one thing to the TOCs and another to the rest of us?

I don't drive or ride a bike so my only travel options are from one bubble relative, who lives an hour away or public transport. So for a time one lot have been saying no leisure travel and the other lot have been zzzsaying nothing of the sort. Now the one lot saying no lesiure travel are saying the government need to change their message. Yet the government weren't saying no leisure travel.

Last week I tweeted South Western Railway to ask about lesiure travel and they confirmed it was the message. They referred me to thr National Rail Enquiries web page.

This week I asked if they would recommend people to drive to Alton, after I saw trains were running from Alton on thr Watercress line. What's the difference between their train services, which are for lesirue, and a national rail ones, where they were advising do not travel by train for leisure, I wondered?

This time though I was directed to the government advice page rather than the National Rail Enquiries web page. When I said but there is no mention of not travelling for lesiure, I didn't get a response.

 

[PupCuff]

This is ridiculous - our taxes are paying for this!

There are still several prominent notices placed by the British Transport Police at Nottingham station proudly stating that you will be refused travel if your journey isn't essential. I am assuming they don't have the resources to take them down and are simply waiting for them to biodegrade as there haven't been such restrictions for weeks now. It is frustrating at a time when as an industry we need to be getting people back onto trains for both the sake of the economy and the viability of our comprehensive rail network.

 

[squizzler]

From the front page of at least one national broadsheet today. I hope 'Travel Safe this Summer' takes the form of massive advertising paid for by the government. The motor trade has enjoyed a huge government recovery stimulus in the form of a three month advertising campaign on the BBC involving prime ministerial briefings urging people to try motoring as an alternative to public transport system; imagine how much an advertising agency would have charged for that sort of exposure!

Train passengers to be tempted back with 'travel safe this summer' campaign

Operators move to boost drastically reduced use of public transport amid Covid-19 crisis
Train companies are hoping to encourage commuters back on to public transport with a “travel safe this summer” campaign, as Boris Johnson urges a bigger return to work.

Story continues over at Guardian...

 

[jtuk]

Give us something that is worth travelling to in a manner that we want to travel to. I'd happily travel to watch us play Leicester today, but you won't let us do that and I'm not spending hours on Voyagers at the best of times, but especially not while they're perpetuating that all public transport (and now shops) is a deathtrap

 

[Baxenden Bank]

From the front page of at least one national broadsheet today. I hope 'Travel Safe this Summer' takes the form of massive advertising paid for by the government. The motor trade has enjoyed a huge government recovery stimulus in the form of a three month advertising campaign on the BBC involving prime ministerial briefings urging people to try motoring as an alternative to public transport system; imagine how much an advertising agency would have charged for that sort of exposure!

"Travel Safe This Summer"
"Do it in you own car, you won't have to share space with infected plebs"

 

[Baxenden Bank]

EMR (presumably other Abellio sites too) still have a 'tick box' to fill in before you can plan a journey or buy tickets in advance. They have merely changed the questions. Can you imagine being asked, as you remove the nozzle from the petrol pump, is your journey necessary, have you considered alternatives? You do realise that you are taking up roadspace from other, more important, people don't you! Or upon entering a shop - do your really need more clothes?

Plus we still only have a 2/3 timetable in operation - two trains per three hours instead of a normal hourly service.

Perhaps I shall return if travel becomes free - and I mean officially free rather than no ticket buying opportunities and no checks on route

 

[Hophead]

From the front page of at least one national broadsheet today. I hope 'Travel Safe this Summer' takes the form of massive advertising paid for by the government. The motor trade has enjoyed a huge government recovery stimulus in the form of a three month advertising campaign on the BBC involving prime ministerial briefings urging people to try motoring as an alternative to public transport system; imagine how much an advertising agency would have charged for that sort of exposure!

The government (which is to say "we, the taxpayer") has also paid handsomely to run empty trains and barely-used buses for several months now. And, given that the DfT is paying for both buses and trains and that most major bus operators are also train operators, it would be considerably better to promote a "Travel Safe by Public Transport" message and finally make an effort to better integrate modes, rather than this siloed nonsense where integration (whether between modes or just between bus companies) is looked upon as an aberration that should be stamped out.

 

[Ianno87]

EMR (presumably other Abellio sites too) still have a 'tick box' to fill in before you can plan a journey or buy tickets in advance. They have merely changed the questions. Can you imagine being asked, as you remove the nozzle from the petrol pump, is your journey necessary, have you considered alternatives? You do realise that you are taking up roadspace from other, more important, people don't you! Or upon entering a shop - do your really need more clothes?

Plus we still only have a 2/3 timetable in operation - two trains per three hours instead of a normal hourly service.

Perhaps I shall return if travel becomes free - and I mean officially free rather than no ticket buying opportunities and no checks on route

EMR's Twitter page is much more positive now.

To be honest, the necessary journeys warning box on some operators' websites can be ignored now, is what I'm reading into it.

 

[BJames]

EMR (presumably other Abellio sites too) still have a 'tick box' to fill in before you can plan a journey or buy tickets in advance. They have merely changed the questions. Can you imagine being asked, as you remove the nozzle from the petrol pump, is your journey necessary, have you considered alternatives? You do realise that you are taking up roadspace from other, more important, people don't you! Or upon entering a shop - do your really need more clothes?

Plus we still only have a 2/3 timetable in operation - two trains per three hours instead of a normal hourly service.

Perhaps I shall return if travel becomes free - and I mean officially free rather than no ticket buying opportunities and no checks on route

Despite EMR's unfriendly booking site (I just clicked through the boxes, no I'm not a "key worker" but neither is that a requirement to travel so) their staff are actually very nice. A great Train Manager on my service last week and no problems walking past the seemingly tripled amount of staff on Nottingham's concourse. Worth noting that their app doesn't demand a tick box exercise that makes you tell them if you're a key worker before you book.

It's likely now that this has just become an oversight on their website, as the messaging is changing and continuing to refer us to government guidance that contradicts what they're saying won't work anymore.

 

[BJames]

There are still several prominent notices placed by the British Transport Police at Nottingham station proudly stating that you will be refused travel if your journey isn't essential. I am assuming they don't have the resources to take them down and are simply waiting for them to biodegrade as there haven't been such restrictions for weeks now. It is frustrating at a time when as an industry we need to be getting people back onto trains for both the sake of the economy and the viability of our comprehensive rail network.

I will try and remember to ask a member of staff there when I'm passing through tomorrow if there's any reason the signs are still displayed and see what they say.

 

[LowLevel]

I will try and remember to ask a member of staff there when I'm passing through tomorrow if there's any reason the signs are still displayed and see what they say.

They've removed some of them, the rest have presumably been overlooked.

 

[BJames]

They've removed some of them, the rest have presumably been overlooked.

I haven't been through the station for the past week so glad to hear they've made a start.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I have a new industry motto:
"used by the few, paid for by the many"

EMR's Twitter page is much more positive now.

To be honest, the necessary journeys warning box on some operators' websites can be ignored now, is what I'm reading into it.

It could be ignored before - no-one is checking if you answered honestly. A single tick was all that was necessary rather than ticking all. I just don't understand the mentality behind it. A pop-up 'is your journey necessary' already exists.

It's likely now that this has just become an oversight on their website, as the messaging is changing and continuing to refer us to government guidance that contradicts what they're saying won't work anymore.

I suspect not because it is a changed message from last week. Slightly less discouraging.

 

[route101]

LNER , are saying its ok to travel for leisure.

Yesterday , hospitiality opened in Scotland , should of been the date Scotrail dropped the Non essential message.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

These messages should help:

Caledonian Sleeper would like to remind all customers that they should only book to travel during the period of Government restrictions if it is absolutely necessary. (latest update 15/7)

Southeastern: As the government has said, social distancing means there will be space for as few as 1 in 10 of the usual number of passengers on the railway. The safety of the public and our employees remains our top priority. (latest update (14/7)

Transport for Wales: Please follow the latest advice from government and public health officials and please continue to keep services clear for those who need them the most. (latest update (14/7)

Transpennine Express: Please follow the latest advice from government and public health officials and please continue to keep services clear for those who need them the most. (latest update (14/7)

London Overground, London Underground, transport for London: In line with government advice, Transport for London are asking people to avoid public transport if at all possible to help minimise the spread of coronavirus, maintain social distancing and free up the railway for those who need it most and have no alternative way to travel. (latest update (14/7)

Scotrail: The Scottish Government has made it clear that public transport should be used by those making necessary journeys only, so staff and passengers can maintain a physical distance from each other in stations and on trains. Please don’t travel if your journey isn’t a necessary one. (latest update 13/7)

All operators: Despite the changes being made, social distancing means there will still only be space for as few as 1 in 10 of the usual number of passengers. You still need to follow the latest advice from government and public health officials. Please continue to keep services clear for those who need them the most.

Before you set out please ask yourself if your journey is really necessary, and if it is please cycle or walk if you can. (latest update 12/7).

All taken from National Rail Enquiries at 1400 today.

 

[MDB1images]

Was told(haven't seen it officially yet)that the Rail Delivery Group are now telling TOCs that the essential travel message from the Government is to be relaxed with it being announced publicly this week.
'Lets Travel Safely this Summer' will be the new tag line.....
Along the lines of wear a face mask unless exempt, use contactless/online ticketing, Travel off peak where poss.

For those who are still waiting for this decision before travelling I'd check the RDG social media feeds.

 

[717001]

Was told(haven't seen it officially yet)that the Rail Delivery Group are now telling TOCs that the essential travel message from the Government is to be relaxed with it being announced publicly this week.
'Lets Travel Safely this Summer' will be the new tag line.....
Along the lines of wear a face mask unless exempt, use contactless/online ticketing, Travel off peak where poss.

For those who are still waiting for this decision before travelling I'd check the RDG social media feeds.

Yes - if you look at their Twitter feed, the messaging has been changing during this week, alongside several of the English TOCs eg GN/TL and National Rail Enquiries.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes - if you look at their Twitter feed, the messaging has been changing during this week, alongside several of the English TOCs eg GN/TL and National Rail Enquiries.

Yes, FB did alert me to the fact that the NRE profile picture changed in the middle of last week, removing the "essential" banner.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I travelled on a WMT class 350 service today - they still have "Stay at home / essential travel only" stickers in the windows.

I travelled with WMT on Wednesday and same. I suspect it'll take them a while, they aren't a TOC with attention to detail on their mind at the best of times.

Of course, even pre-COVID with the guards tending to hide in the back cab nobody is going to challenge anybody anyway, and a set of automatic ticket barriers won't ask you why you're travelling.

On another note, Avanti have just Tweeted this:

Your third @ has to take you on your first train ride to wherever you fancy

If that's not a veiled invitation to take whatever train rides you feel like now, I don't know what is.

 

[yorksrob]

I travelled with WMT on Wednesday and same. I suspect it'll take them a while, they aren't a TOC with attention to detail on their mind at the best of times.

Of course, even pre-COVID with the guards tending to hide in the back cab nobody is going to challenge anybody anyway, and a set of automatic ticket barriers won't ask you why you're travelling.

On another note, Avanti have just Tweeted this:



If that's not a veiled invitation to take whatever train rides you feel like now, I don't know what is.

I haven't a clue what Avanti's tweet is trying to say !

 

[Bletchleyite]

I haven't a clue what Avanti's tweet is trying to say !

It's just being playful, I think, but it is certainly suggesting to me that discretionary travel is fine (and that whoever's 3rd on the list that pops up when you type @ on Twitter should be paying )

 

[yorksrob]

It's just being playful, I think, but it is certainly suggesting to me that discretionary travel is fine (and that whoever's 3rd on the list that pops up when you type @ on Twitter should be paying )

Ah - a bit technical for me !