Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 00:15 29 Mar 2024
- Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
- Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Where Baltimore bridge investigation goes now
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
29th Mar (1913)
Foundation of National Union or Railwaymen (*)

Train RunningCancelled
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
Short Run
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
23:17 Bedwyn to Reading
Delayed
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 29, 2024, 00:16:29 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[98] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[97] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[86] Return of the BRUTE?
[74] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[53] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[23] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 11
  Print  
Author Topic: Crystal ball - will coronavirus effect our travel (public and private)?  (Read 19069 times)
onthecushions
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 977


View Profile
« Reply #15 on: February 25, 2020, 21:17:07 »


....and let's remember that most deaths are occurring in countries with far less comprehensive health systems than our own.  When the NHS wants to it can be fearsomely efficient, more so than in other advanced countries, probably a legacy of wartime control.

So cheer up!

OTC

PS asked today in Boots for face masks - "never sold 'em" was the reply. Have to use my welding masks instead.
Logged
Marlburian
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 689


View Profile
« Reply #16 on: February 25, 2020, 21:47:21 »

... PS asked today in Boots for face masks - "never sold 'em" was the reply. Have to use my welding masks instead.
On Thursday Waitrose had sold out of small bottles of hand gel, so I bought a large one for refills.  (And with some small bottles getting the last dollops out requires a certain amount of shaking and squeezing; usually I end up undoing the cap and tipping some out.)
Logged
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6435


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #17 on: February 26, 2020, 16:47:24 »


I was on a rammed train yesterday morning, stood in the vestibule with 9 others, between Pinhoe and Exeter Central. Something tickled my nose and I sneezed. A woman stood nearby suggested I got tested for coronavirus, suggesting I head straight for A&E!

When I did that on a rammed single car from Gloucester during one of the previous scares (avian, IIRC (if I recall/remember/read correctly)), I found myself upgraded from a seat around the table, begrudgingly vacated by a bag, to half a carriage.

As someone with a pre-existing respiratory thing, and recently departed Chinese house guests, I shall carry on as normal for now. I brought a packet face masks home from Japan last year, as a never-executed joke. They might come in handy.
Logged

Now, please!
broadgage
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5398



View Profile
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2020, 12:40:50 »

It is being widely reported that hand sanitiser is in short supply.
A suitable alternative is a mixture of about 70% isopropyl alcohol and about 30% water.
This is readily available on fleabay and is inexpensive in bulk.
The pure alcohol is very flammable, and the 70% mixture is somewhat flammable.
Logged

A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7156


View Profile
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2020, 13:29:17 »

It is being widely reported that hand sanitiser is in short supply.
A suitable alternative is a mixture of about 70% isopropyl alcohol and about 30% water.
This is readily available on fleabay and is inexpensive in bulk.
The pure alcohol is very flammable, and the 70% mixture is somewhat flammable.

Certainly our local Tesco had none this morning, and I heard two people inquiring of staff if there was any. And the last few dispensers on the empty shelf were being grabbed, though those seemed to be some antibacterial hand wash - useless against a virus, of course, except as an encouragement to wash one's hands at all.
Logged
ray951
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 461


View Profile
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2020, 15:04:27 »

Of course if 20% of drivers, signallers, etc. are 'off-sick' then a lot of services won't run.

A fifth of workers could be off sick at peak of virus, according the government https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51718917
Logged
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6435


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2020, 15:29:43 »

Certainly our local Tesco had none this morning, and I heard two people inquiring of staff if there was any. And the last few dispensers on the empty shelf were being grabbed, though those seemed to be some antibacterial hand wash - useless against a virus, of course, except as an encouragement to wash one's hands at all.

Every cloud has a silvery lining, and this is a marvellous opportunity for shops to clear the shelves of the expensive branded hand cleansers, the ones with nice bottles containing that rare and highly expensive ingredient "Aqua".
Logged

Now, please!
Marlburian
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 689


View Profile
« Reply #22 on: March 04, 2020, 08:24:10 »

For some years I've carried and used hand gels, ever conscious of the lack of hygiene of many public-transport users and for use on my countryside walks and tasks. I have dry eyes that sometimes need the application of ointment and/or artificial tears, so clean fingers are important.

A friend is an agent for a range of aloe vera products, some of which I reluctantly buy. Checking my stock of hand gels, I found that all were merely "antibac" except the sample bottle she'd given me just before Christmas. Just tried to order some more, but they've sold out.

I went on to eBay and found that the cheapest bottles still listed would come from China, of all places. One British-based spiv had set up a new trading name offering for £100 a bottle that would normally cost £4-5.
Logged
Western Pathfinder
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1528



View Profile
« Reply #23 on: March 04, 2020, 08:57:20 »

Best answer to limited availability of effective hand cleanser would be a small refillable bottle of alcohol based sprit ,Vodka anyone?...
Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #24 on: March 04, 2020, 09:21:56 »

Don't ask me what the connection is but people in Australia are panic buying toilet paper  Huh
Logged
broadgage
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5398



View Profile
« Reply #25 on: March 04, 2020, 09:30:57 »

Don't ask me what the connection is but people in Australia are panic buying toilet paper  Huh

Sensible in my view, toilet paper shortages are entirely possible due to sickness in the supply chain. Food and water are higher priorities, but toilet paper is also important.
I buy it in bulk, and order more when existing stocks are down to less than 100 rolls.
My present stock is about 200 rolls. No panic here.
Logged

A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
Celestial
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 674


View Profile
« Reply #26 on: March 04, 2020, 10:20:08 »

Sensible in my view, toilet paper shortages are entirely possible due to sickness in the supply chain. Food and water are higher priorities, but toilet paper is also important.
I buy it in bulk, and order more when existing stocks are down to less than 100 rolls.
My present stock is about 200 rolls. No panic here.
So you keep several jerry cans of fuel in the event of a sudden fuel crisis, and a store of 100+ loo rolls, and heaven knows what else.  I have to ask, are you disappointed each day when the apocalypse doesn't arrive and you can smugly be the only person that has prepared for it?
Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #27 on: March 04, 2020, 10:22:18 »

Best answer to limited availability of effective hand cleanser would be a small refillable bottle of alcohol based sprit ,Vodka anyone?...

I much prefer a large Gin and Tonic...... Grin
Logged
charles_uk
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 711

thewalkingpage
View Profile
« Reply #28 on: March 04, 2020, 10:33:15 »

Italians are being advised to stand one metre away from each other in all public spaces. I wonder how that'd work on short-formed IETs (Intercity Express Train)!
Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #29 on: March 04, 2020, 10:55:39 »

It would be easy to mock Broadgage for his preparedness in the event of a major event, but we have seen how quickly shelves clear when fear and panic spreads.

That is quite a lot of toilet rolls to have in stock I must say but fair play to you.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 11
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page