SWR advice on travelling by train

Updated 16 July 2020

As lockdown eases, we are pleased to see a growing number of people using our services again, but our priority remains the safety of our customers and colleagues.

Below, we’ve set out what we’re doing to help stop the spread of coronavirus, and how our customers can keep themselves and others safe when travelling with us this summer. When using our network, please follow this advice.

We are proud to have joined with other train operating companies in supporting the Safer Travel Pledge.

What can I do to travel safely?

* Wear a face covering - in line with the recent government announcement, passengers must wear a face covering. Children under 11, and people with a disability, illness or condition that means they cannot wear a face covering are exempt. For more information click here.

* Travel outside of busy periods - with social distancing in place, we have limited capacity so try to travel outside of peak hours if you can and use quieter stations where possible. Use this guide to find out which of our stations and services tend to be the busiest.

* Keep your distance - make sure you follow the latest Government guidance on social distancing.

* Wash your hands regularly - please wash your hands before and after you travel, you may also want to carry your own personal hand sanitiser.

* Plan ahead - check your journey in advance – you can find more information on our amended timetable here.

* Buy your ticket online - buying your ticket online will make your journey through our station seamless and contact-free. Make the switch to our Touch smartcard, it’s free and you don’t need to queue to get your tickets. Find out more about Touch Smartcards here.

* If you do need to buy your ticket at our stations, use contactless - all of our ticket offices and most ticket machines are not currently accepting cash, so use contactless.

* Allow other passengers off before you board - stand well back and allow your fellow passengers off the train before you board, giving them plenty of room.

Be considerate of fellow passengers - when finding a seat consider your passengers and respect social distancing. Try and leave at least two rows free between yourself and other passengers when finding a seat. Where possible, travel side by side or behind other people, rather than facing them.

* Be prepared to queue - we may need to introduce queuing at our busier stations to ensure social distancing, which means your journey may take longer.

What we’re doing to make travelling with us safe:
* Running additional trains and carriages in order to maximise space and facilitate social distancing.
* Continuing to pay particular attention to commonly touched surfaces such as ticket machines, grab handles, stair handrails and door buttons when cleaning our stations and trains.
* Using a powerful "virucidal" sanitiser proven to fight against Covid-19 for up to 28 days.
* Rolled out hand sanitiser machines at around 100 of our stations.
* Outlining when our key services and flagship stations tend to get busy so you are able to travel at quieter times.
* Introducing floor markings at our stations to encourage social distancing.
* Introducing stickers on board our trains to encourage social distancing when you are looking for a seat.
* Making regular announcements and using our information screens to remind customers of the latest guidance on social distancing.
* Only accepting contactless at our ticket offices and most of our ticket machines.
* Encouraging good hand hygiene amongst our colleagues.

Ticket Acceptance

If you have a ticket that is for a specific train operator and the train is cancelled, this may be used on any service provided by any operator between the same start and end station, group or Zone on the same date.

Normal Peak/Off-Peak time restrictions will still apply.

Advance ticket holders will be permitted to travel on other operator’s services if the original booked service has been delayed or cancelled. Travel must still be on the same date.

London Underground and DLR^▸ services are currently not included in this acceptance.

Assistance and advice when travelling

If you are using our services:

* Guards will still be on our trains
* Colleagues will still be available at most stations
* Our Twitter team will be able to provide essential journey information
* We will update this page with the latest information

Train time information can still be found on our journey planning and live train times pages, but if you do need help or see something that does not look right, please contact one of our guards, station teams, rail community officers or the British Transport Police by texting 61016 or calling 0800 405040