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Author Topic: Planning for restoration of services  (Read 20017 times)
grahame
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« Reply #30 on: May 08, 2020, 07:48:24 »

From the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

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There are plans to increase train services from Monday 18 May across Britain, in preparation for the eventual easing of travel restrictions.

The move will ensure the railways are able to cope with a rise in passengers when some people return to work.

Rail bosses and government sources told the BBC that services will be increased to about 70% of the normal timetable.

At the moment, only half of normal rail services are running due to the coronavirus lockdown.
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grahame
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« Reply #31 on: May 08, 2020, 07:51:17 »

Greetings from Callac in Brittany, ....

Wish me luck, and whether it is next Friday or a bit further ahead, I will let you know how I get on.

Many thanks for the update, Lee ... good to see your positive view to getting out again and wishing you luck as you go. Stay safe!

Lessons can be learned from nation to nation and person to person as we move through current times. Look forward to further updates from you.
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« Reply #32 on: May 08, 2020, 15:00:23 »

Greetings from Callac in Brittany, where both the department I live in and the wider Brittany region have today been classed in the "Green" zone, and cleared for deconfinement on Monday (May 11 2020)

On closer examination, the difference between red and green zones is very small. The only extra relaxation listed for the greens is the first two years of secondary school going back (as well as younger kids everywhere), and even that's subject to local conditions. It's been said that further steps will apply sooner in green areas, but that's all subject to progress too.

As to reservations on TERs, that's the thing I couldn't see and still can't. In Hauts-de-France (around Lille), which is a red region, they are instead rationing trains by coupon. As well as your ticket (and mask), for each train you need to have got yourself a coupon which states the from and to stations and a departure time. The numbers are being set to match capacity, and once they are all gone that's it. The time is shown as "after", presumably because there will still be controls on boarding and you may be held back and have to take a later train.

In Paris, RATP had already said employers would be getting together to stagger hours, and had set out hourly time slots - five in the morning (5:30-6:30 to 9:430-10:30), and four in the evening (15:30-1630 to 18:30-19:30). Do they expect you to work very long days to reduce the number of days travelled? In addition, announced last night, you now need a letter from your employer saying you are required to go to work.

The rules in other regions and cities will presumably be close to one of those patterns, though I've not searched for them. For some trips, it looks as if you'll need your ticket and/or pass, coupon, letter for the boss or attestation, and of course (as always) your ID card. Doesn't that all strike you as scarily like travel during the war - and in France, that does mean under occupation. "Show me your papers - now!"
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Lee
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« Reply #33 on: May 08, 2020, 15:44:15 »

As referenced in the France Bleu article I posted, no "peak rationing" measures are expected in Brittany thankfully, as capacity is expected to be adequate enough to allow social distancing, and no extra certification required unless you plan to travel to another department on a journey over 100km. I wonder if it will be a similar story in other "green" areas?

In terms of other differences between "green" and "red" areas, parks and gardens can be accessed in "green" but not "red" areas - interesting they singled that one out. As stuving said, further steps may apply sooner in "green" areas, one of the most striking being that cafes and restaurants could possibly reopen in areas that stay "green" for 3 weeks after deconfinement begins on May 11.

Finally, the French government called on all Ile-de-France (the "red" zone region around Paris) residents to only use public transport if absolutely necessary, a measure of how worried they are of the potential of the virus to re-erupt big time in that area.
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Bob_Blakey
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« Reply #34 on: May 10, 2020, 09:09:16 »

According to the Tiger / IRIS information for EXD» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) this morning both 9- & 10-car IET (Intercity Express Train)'s have been allowed out to play.
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« Reply #35 on: May 10, 2020, 10:13:26 »

Several daily 9-car diagrams have been out since the emergency timetable started, though not 10-cars.  Could be a stock balancing move with one unit out of use?  Or of course it could all be in service.  Smiley
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Bob_Blakey
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« Reply #36 on: May 10, 2020, 16:24:36 »

Could be a stock balancing move with one unit out of use?  Or of course it could all be in service.  Smiley

There was a 10-car with only 5 in use service listed on Friday but this morning's information did not carry this qualification.
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« Reply #37 on: May 28, 2020, 06:59:32 »

Not sure where to put this.

So things are easing. You can get in your car and go to the beach or the countryside. Non-essential shops will be opening in a week or so.

What is the situation for non-car owners? Stay at home, or are we allowed on trains at non-peak times? Should Graham be allowed/encouraged to get on the train to Weymouth (as opposed to using the car)? Can I go from Reading to Oxford, and return by train on a Saturday, actually to Didcot and then cycle to Oxford?

Understand that we are talking about day trips, and not to Durham. Which segment of the train using population do you encourage first, commuters, local utility travellers, tourists?

Yes, I am getting stir crazy!
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« Reply #38 on: May 28, 2020, 10:39:21 »

I think there will be a slow shift over the coming weeks from ‘essential rail journeys only’ to ‘leisure journeys permitted if you don’t have a car’.  If a ‘normal’ service resumes in early July that might be an entirely workable next step.
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Robin Summerhill
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« Reply #39 on: May 28, 2020, 10:40:47 »

You raise an issue which highlights some of the inconsistencies in government advice, and by way of example I recount a recent exchange of email correspondence with Faresaver buses.

I actually own a car, but I can no longer use it through eyesight problems. One of the few things I can still see easily is a computer screen because of the backlight (some on this forum may think that that ability is unfortunate, but you’ll have to live with it...  Wink ). The moment I walk outside it is like walking into a thick mist.

SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) still drives, but I have been used to going shopping myself (besides, waiting for her to get ready is a long job – it’s a spot of luck we no longer have early closing days..) Since the emergency covid-19 service was introduced on our town bus service, they have been running at 0845, 0925 and 1025. I have nothing to get up early for in normal circumstances, let alone now. So this service was no good for me whatsoever.

The service was revised from last Tuesday, 26th May, and now we have buses at 0830, 0925, 1025, 1215 and 1355. I wrote to thank them, but queried why the Saturday service still ended at 1025, and asked whether/ when they would be improving the Saturday service too. Here is the reply I got:

We are pleased to hear that you are happy with the increase of the timetable. And, to be frank, a ‘usable service’ as you put it, is available to you 5 of 7 days a week from today, is that not enough? The country is still very much in lockdown, and you should only be using the buses for essential shopping, or commuting if you are a key worker.
 
I will bear your thoughts in mind when the time comes for a further timetable increase.


A few thoughts sprang to mind, not the least of which was that the country is still in lockdown unless you happen to be called Dominic Cummings.

The second was that these damn buses are being taken for a ride by their drivers, and empty buses (and trains) being run around makes no economic sense whatsoever. On the few rare occasions I have used a bus in the last 9 weeks (mainly the 92 Chippenham to Malmesbury service) there has never been any more than one other passenger on the bus.

I am not that thick to not understand that there is a marginally higher risk of infection on public transport than there is sitting in your other half’s car, but as I see it that risk is no greater, and probably smaller, than going around the supermarket which is usually full of people who are not looking where they are going, and/or blocking aisles with trolleys at right angles to the shelves, and/or wandering around slowly and two abreast.

Add into that mix the fact that from my experience fewer people are going out anyway for a multitude of reasons (see bus example above), it becomes clear that something is seriously wrong with the government’s advice at the moment. If you have a car there is no problem: if you don’t then your options for travel are severely limited. Meanwhile, the railways are running largely ECS (Empty Coaching Stock) around the country and the bus companies are sending their drivers for an empty run around the countryside. This doesn’t make any rational sense whatsoever.

The problem is that at the moment I can’t think of any “message” that could be put out to deal with the matter, and I would welcome hearing what others have to say on the topic.

Of course, we could all decide just to take no bloody notice of the government’s advice. There are, after all, high profile precedents about the place not losing their jobs at the moment...

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grahame
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« Reply #40 on: May 28, 2020, 13:16:11 »

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We are pleased to hear that you are happy with the increase of the timetable. And, to be frank, a ‘usable service’ as you put it, is available to you 5 of 7 days a week from today, is that not enough? The country is still very much in lockdown, and you should only be using the buses for essential shopping, or commuting if you are a key worker.

Was that written to you recently?

My understanding was that even at the height of the lockdown, you were allowed to travel to
* medical appointments
* for essential shopping
* for commuting if you were a key worker
but it would appear that this bus company would not carry you to medical appointments. I'm also very much aware of key workers working on shifts and all 7 days of the week. One of the key issues here has been the lack of any public transport to get people from West Wilts to Chippenham and Swindon on a Sunday for key work. Oddly enough, key work does not shut down over the weekend and there have been very real problems.

Assuming that's a old message, we have now moved forward.   
* From a few days back, we were allowed to travel somewhat to exercise
* We were allowed to meet, one and one from two households in the open
* Other staff were allowed back to work - not key, but could not work from home, a few days back
And looking ahead
* On 1st June, Open air markets, car show rooms (!) and perhaps a few others can open
* From 3rd June, National Trust is reopening some of its places - not seen a list, but I suspect Lacock Abbey Grounds and The Courts
* From 15th June, many more shops will be allowed to open with social distancing

You are told of two things you may use public transport for.   Yet I have listed 9 reasons to travel, 8 of which will be allowed within a week (whether sensible is another question) and some of them certainly seem to be moving away from "essential only".   Are we then going to be in a split society of "haves" and "have nots", where them who have can visit Lacock by car, but those who have not cannot go there on the bus?  Where them who have not cannot go back to work (unless they're key), but those who have can go back to work?

For the absence of doubt, I do not personally intend to travel until I'm sure that my journey is legal, safe (for me and others), and not occupying a seat which is required by someone  who needs to make an essential journey.   Nor do I recommend anyone else to make a journey until those conditions are met.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2020, 13:44:11 by grahame » Logged

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Robin Summerhill
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« Reply #41 on: May 28, 2020, 13:28:28 »

Quote
We are pleased to hear that you are happy with the increase of the timetable. And, to be frank, a ‘usable service’ as you put it, is available to you 5 of 7 days a week from today, is that not enough? The country is still very much in lockdown, and you should only be using the buses for essential shopping, or commuting if you are a key worker.

Was that written to you recently?

The email that sentence was in came from someone called Xxxxx at Faresaver buses, timed at 0541 on Tuesday 26th May, so just under 56 hours ago as I write this.

He was upwell before I was...


Edit - I have Xxxxx'd out the name of the individual in response to a reporting of this post.   We do not normally name individual operational team members within transport operating companies.   It's a little different where people speak on behalf of the company or are senior managers there. In this case, the name is not one I have heard before at Faresaver and on balance I have blanked the name even though he wrote on behalf of the company - Grahame
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Robin Summerhill
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« Reply #42 on: May 28, 2020, 13:46:10 »

[
but it would appear that this bus company would not carry you to medical appointments. I'm also very much aware of key workers working on shifts and all 7 days of the week. One of the key issues here has been the lack of any public transport to get people from West Wilts to Chippenham and Swindon on a Sunday for key work. Oddly enough, key work does not shut down over the weekend and there have been very real problems.


Although your assumption (edited out for brevity) that this was an old message has now been corrected, I think your statement above is too strong. I am not aware of any bus driver refusing to carry anybody, or indeed ask what they were travellig for. Indeed, how would they know the purpose of the journey without asing the potential passenger?

It isn't always clear of course. Not all key workers go to work in their overalls, and not all shoppers necessarily carry bags.

There was an incident a few weeks ago when I went to the chemist for a repeat precription to be told it would be ready in 30 minutes. It was 1010 and the last bus was at 1025. I therefore went back for it the next day. So I presented myself at the bus stop carrying no shopping. The driver did not ask why I was travelling for no obvious reason.

I doubt that my example is unique.
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Celestial
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« Reply #43 on: May 28, 2020, 13:47:14 »


SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) still drives, but I have been used to going shopping myself (besides, waiting for her to get ready is a long job – it’s a spot of luck we no longer have early closing days..) Since the emergency covid-19 service was introduced on our town bus service, they have been running at 0845, 0925 and 1025. I have nothing to get up early for in normal circumstances, let alone now. So this service was no good for me whatsoever.

as I see it that risk is no greater, and probably smaller, than going around the supermarket which is usually full of people who are not looking where they are going, and/or blocking aisles with trolleys at right angles to the shelves, and/or wandering around slowly and two abreast.

Of course, we could all decide just to take no bloody notice of the government’s advice. There are, after all, high profile precedents about the place not losing their jobs at the moment...

The argument that as I have nothing to get up early for, the bus at 1025 isn't convenient to me seems somewhat illogical.  

Sitting on a confined space on a bus for an extended period is much more risky than passing someone momentarily in a relatively open supermarket. And you can't control who comes and sits near you either. I would not be comfortable riding on a bus at the moment, whereas am willing to brave the supermarket shop, albeit trying to use delivery services where possible to minimise journeys out.

Agree completely re the government advice, but I guess we should remember that the advice is there to protect us, our friends and families and society at large. So it feels a bit like cutting your nose off to spite your face to ignore the advice, although sadly I think many people will now do that.

As for whether the email you got was correct.  At the moment government advice is that public transport is only for essential business, which I would imagine would be possible within Monday to Friday, so I think it was fair, albeit the wording does not seem to be the most customer friendly. There's a very valid debate as to whether that is appropriate going forward,  although in your case you do have the option of a car, so it doesn't appear as though you are completely cut off from leisure options in the way that others might be.
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« Reply #44 on: May 28, 2020, 14:18:36 »

The Scottish version of easing lockdown

People are still being urged to "stay at home as much as possible", with Ms Sturgeon warning that the virus "is still out there".

although people from two different households can meet, they must keep two metres apart
People should stay at home as much as possible
Anyone meeting up with other households should do so in groups of no more than eight people
we should not meet people from more than one other household each day.

you can play golf, tennis, bowls and fishing
sit and sunbathe in parks
travel, preferably by walking or cycling, for recreation nearby where you live, but avoid public transport
strong advice is not to travel more than five miles for recreation and leisure
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