Patterns of returning passengers?

[whole diary]

[eightonedee]

I am posting this from my first post Plan B commute between Goring and Guildford, last week's unfortunate events having curtailed my first attempt 

Impressions so far-

It's the busiest it's been since lockdown began nearly two years ago. Still not crowded, but noticeable that noone seems to want to share a double seat with a stranger,  so there were standing passengers by the time we left Tilehurst in half full carriage.

Mask wearing is at about 50%, with no immediately clear pattern of use, by age sex or other discernable characteristics.  This is unlike the situation before when young males tended to be the most frequent non-users.


Using the Stuving car park use test, it was 50% at Goring at 7-55, 80% at Pangbourne 5 minutes later but scarcely 25% at Tilehurst 

[eightonedee]

Now sat on a train awaiting departure from Guildford.

Rest of outward journey continued in a similar manner.  More passengers than before,  but not quite to the same extent as on the Goring  to Reading leg, although the reduction in numbers during the interludes between lockdowns plan Bs etc seemed less on the North Downs.

This evening at Guildford at 18-30 ish it didn't seem too different to the pre-pandemic days over on platform 8 away from the main Waterloo line trains, but these seemed less busy.

We are now underway so I am enjoying the familiar ambience of tired Turbo interior on the way back Reading.

[eightonedee]

...and back at Reading sat on the Electrostar leaving for Goring,  having had the considerable pleasure of bumping into an old friend and colleague I had not seen in person since March 2020 changing trains in the opposite direction.

This train seems as busy as it would have been pre-covid. The difference is that about half of us are wearing masks.

The new normal?

[stuving]

I keep meaning to update this ... and even I can't never get round to doing it. This adds another complete, if short, wave.

Number of cars in the Wokingham Station car parks, capacity 531 (SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)) or 424 (Ringo) but average usage pre-Covid unknown, seen at some time during 10 am-5 pm (most often 14:30-16:30).

W/S	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Notes
5/7	-	-	60	75	49	Sat 71
12/7	50	64	74	62	31	32
19/7	51*	72	79	57	46	*"Freedom day!"
26/7	38	57	60	63	-
2/8	45	52	69	63	50
9/8	56	-	88	87	59
16/8	54	70	86	66	54
23/8	65	84	63	82	92	Sat 34
30/8	34*	47	107	-	72	Sat 85 *Bank holiday Monday
6/9	72	65	92	60	60	Sat 93
13/9	87	116	110	107	-
20/9	76	118	128	130	60	Sat 83
27/9	93	114	135	132	86
4/10	72	121*	139	140	82	Sat 122 *Now some upstairs
11/10	80	102~	139	157	75	Sat few (no trains!).
18/10	84	140	143	135	84
25/10	70		124	129	76	Sat 74.
1/11	77	121	155	143	60
8/11	75	143	152		96	Sat 142.
15/11	107	142	146	148	89	Sat 154.
22/11		130	139	193
29/11	84	109	142		88	Sat 123
6/12	93		109	142	84~
13/12	48*	48	68	52	38	Sat 75, *Plan B WFH▸ (Working From Home) orders from today.
20/12	42*	30	41	33	-
27/12	65	45	50	36	30
3/1/22	32	27	28	-	-	Sat 84
10/1	42	41	63	62	38	Sat 92
17/1	-	55	66	65	43	Sat 101
24/1	45	70	93	111*	65	Sat 110 * back to Plan A (WFW)
31/1	73	133	115	117	64	Sat 113
7/2	83	-	133	141	65	Sat 30* no trains today
14/2	72	127	-	123	-*	*Eunice(no trains from 10:30)
21/2	30*	135	146	161	114	Sat 140 *Franklin (but trains ran)
28/2	87	-	-	135	110	104
7/3	103	158	167	181	-	151
14/3	88	148	-	173	100	Sat 84
21/3	65	154	198	195	-

~ approx.
updated 18/12/21

You'll see that the trend for Saturday to be as busy as any weekday turned into it being busier during Plan B. I'm not sure if that was a return to SFS or something else. But since that ended, the numbers went up higher and quicker than before.

[CyclingSid]

I don't know if this will work

<iframe height="375px" width="100%" src="https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1971/time-series/index.html"></iframe>

A graph from "Is hybrid working here to stay?" by ONS^» (Office for National Statistics - website) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/ishybridworkingheretostay/2022-05-23
Showing less than 50% plan to Travel to work in future and about 25% Hybrid working, which obviously has implications for public transport.

[IndustryInsider]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) revenue (not passenger numbers) is almost 75% of what it was pre-Covid.  I think that’s a pretty remarkable figure given the big bucks still missing from business fares and season tickets.  Shows how well leisure has bounced back.

[grahame]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) revenue (not passenger numbers) is almost 75% of what it was pre-Covid.  I think that’s a pretty remarkable figure given the big bucks still missing from business fares and season tickets.  Shows how well leisure has bounced back.

Not GWR territory these days - but here's a picture I took at 13:25 yesterday - not peak commuter time, and on Monday - so not peak leisure time either!

[bradshaw]

Ventured to Crewkerne station on Saturday to pick up Marion’s daughter and the station car park was almost full. Dropping her off on Sunday it was not quite as busy but around 30 people were waiting for the 17.19 to London.

[TaplowGreen]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) revenue (not passenger numbers) is almost 75% of what it was pre-Covid.  I think that’s a pretty remarkable figure given the big bucks still missing from business fares and season tickets.  Shows how well leisure has bounced back.

Out of interest, how is net income looking after costs are subtracted from that revenue?

[grahame]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) revenue (not passenger numbers) is almost 75% of what it was pre-Covid.  I think that’s a pretty remarkable figure given the big bucks still missing from business fares and season tickets.  Shows how well leisure has bounced back.

Out of interest, how is net income looking after costs are subtracted from that revenue?

That's a fascinating question ... we should also note that since this date in 2019 (if that''s the comparator) there have been fare rises of 2.4% (2020), 1.2% (2021) and 3.8% (2022) making a compound of around 7.5%, so perhaps in real terms it might only be back up at 67% of real income?

[TaplowGreen]

It's an old saying, but a very true one, that revenue is vanity & profit is sanity. If you don't know your costs, flagging up a revenue figure, even if it appears relatively healthy, is pretty meaningless.

[IndustryInsider]

It's an old saying, but a very true one, that revenue is vanity & profit is sanity. If you don't know your costs, flagging up a revenue figure, even if it appears relatively healthy, is pretty meaningless.

Just a post for context, pertinent to the thread, with information others may not have been aware of.  Nothing more than that.  Sorry if you found it meaningless.

[Clan Line]

I wouldn't get too excited - today's Covid figures are up !

[TaplowGreen]

It's an old saying, but a very true one, that revenue is vanity & profit is sanity. If you don't know your costs, flagging up a revenue figure, even if it appears relatively healthy, is pretty meaningless.

Just a post for context, pertinent to the thread, with information others may not have been aware of.  Nothing more than that.  Sorry if you found it meaningless.

Actually I probably owe you an apology - I shouldn't have suggested that your post was meaningless, it wasn't meant personally but I can see how it may have been interpreted that way - what I should have said was that in order to give the revenue figure context, the corresponding details of costs need to be factored in.

[Marlburian]

... Using the Stuving car park use test, it was 50% at Goring at 7-55, 80% at Pangbourne 5 minutes later but scarcely 25% at Tilehurst 

On my occasional forays through or past these stations, car-park occupancy at Tilehurst has always seemed to have recovered far less than at the others. Today at 0915 it was perhaps half full.

I caught the 0932 into Reading, which was as full (ie 15%) as it was before Lockdown. Mask-wearing was limited to a few people of colour and elderly people. (I'd meant to take one as I was buying a new pair of boots, which might have entailed coming into close proximity with a sales assistant; in the event I forgot, but managed to maintain a reasonable distance.)

There was still a form of social distancing in the short queue waiting for their bank in the Oracle to open at 1000.

At Reading Station several women were obviously heading for Ascot, as was one elegant (perhaps brave?) man in top hat and tails. I notice that one train departure was billed as apparently terminating at Ascot.