From
the Stoke SentinelA Staffordshire town has been left without a train service – as the number of UK▸ rail travellers has dropped by almost 100 per cent during the coronavirus crisis.
Rail provider London Northwestern has temporarily axed the Crewe to Stafford route in its latest timetable shake-up due to the pandemic.
This means key workers in Stone who used the railway to commute between either the county town or South Cheshire have been left without a service.
The decision comes after latest figures released released by the government show rail use is down 99 per cent across the country.
This is not only a leisure line ... Stone has a population of around 18,000 and passenger journeys of 160,000 per annum
((See here)) and there are key workers who are being told they can use the bus ... but it seems that the actual key worker flows had not been well defined.
Now - here's my take. LNW have withdrawn their service that ran through Stone for "the duration", but Cross Country trains continue to pass through, slowing down for the sharp bend through the platform. Would it have been beyond the wit of someone to have them call every couple of hours? Oh for a joined up network!