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    Transport + Covid 19

    I thought I'd start a thread about the impact this coronovirus has had on the transport network as the impacts are mind blowing. It's difficult to know where to start but the railways have been re-nationalised and costs absorbed by the government. Services cut back but not abandoned completely and 8 or 12 car trains are operating in the off peaks to allow critical workers to socially isolate.

    Victoria Bus Station - normally 900 arrivals and departures a day, now closed with just 9 coaches a day coming in (from Luton and Hemel hempstead, oddly).

    Ferries - cut back in Northern Scotland, all passenger services suspended by Brittany Ferries but freight still carried

    Buses - skeleton services across the UK propped up by government

    Flights - well here's the big one, with lots of airports closed, but take a look at Flightradar:

    https://www.flightradar24.com/54.31,-3.15/6

    There are NO flights over Scotland right now and most other flights are freight flights. A small number of passenger flights are operating but these are essential ones only.

    The shipping industry, well take a look at Live Ships Map and see how many ships you can see. Bear in mind that many ships set sail for their destinations a couple of months ago carrying cargo ordered last year with long lead times.

    https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...ry:47.9/zoom:5

    It'll swing back, we'll go back to normal but some sectors will take longer than others and I think the hardest hit will be the air industry with people not having the money to fly plus restrictions on which countries they can fly to all depending on how the outbreak is managed.

    #2
    Call me an old cynic, but unless something truly remarkable happens, the railways will be refranchised at "reasonable" prices to the cronies of this particular Government.

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      #3
      I travel in on Greater Anglia with a much reduced timetable and as you say trains are 8 cars long. One afternoon at Wickford station I was waiting for a London bound train and I was the only passenger on any of the platforms.
      As for where I work the Jubilee Line is running about 10 trains an hour where normally it is thirty trains an hour. I haven't noticed any crowding on trains leaving or arriving at Stratford. I did get a train come into the depot where I work because it needed a deep clean after a passenger was reported to have walked through the train deliberately coughing at everyone.

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        #4
        Have most of the train company staff been furloughed?

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          #5
          Not on the Underground. Some reduction in staff in control centres and signal cabins to allow for social distancing.

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            #6
            Buses in unusual places taken on Thursday the first day of the shuttle service.

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              #7
              I saw one airborne during my walk yesterday, one! I was having a chill laying on grass looking at the blue skies and it really struck me. I live within 25 miles of Mcr and Liv airports, skies are busy above my head normalky

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                #8
                A bit tangential but I was out for a ride this morning. Part of my loop was alongside the dual-carriage lanes of Warrington. There is pretty decent cycling infrastructure there and all have separate bike lanes. Today, it was safer for me to ride on the road proper as they were empty and I really mean that, 3 cars in 5 miles of roads with normally intense traffic even on a Sunday morning. It was 9am, not dawn and on the balance of risk, heavy breathing joggers were a far greater danger to me than cars...

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                  #9
                  I saw a bus go past yesterday with one passenger on. It's probably the safest way to travel at the moment.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                    I saw a bus go past yesterday with one passenger on. It's probably the safest way to travel at the moment.

                    I'm still seeing quite a few buses and it's always a surprise to see anyone on them at all, though admittedly I'm not in an urban area.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Eggchaser View Post
                      Call me an old cynic, but unless something truly remarkable happens, the railways will be refranchised at "reasonable" prices to the cronies of this particular Government.
                      Is it not just the case that the franchises have been suspended temporarily and their losses nationalised? And they'll kick back in automatically at some point rather than need to be re-franchised? Northern Rail are a different case of course, having already been served notice before this kicked off and the franchise quietly taken back a few weeks ago.

                      I live on a bus route which normally means six buses an hour during the day going past my house. They've reduced the frequency but even with a reduced service it is still a rarity to see a passenger on. The local hospital is on the route however, so it would be the last route to get cut altogether if it came to that. They must be rotating the stock because we are seeing buses which ordinarily go on the Newcastle and Lake District routes.

                      Meanwhile at the current rate of consumption I'm next going to need to get fuel for my car in about November.

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                        #12
                        When was the railway nationalised?

                        No one appears to have told the railway?

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                          #13
                          My wife's working for one of the franchises that provide buses for tfl. Buses are still running on a Sunday timetable, but they've lost four drivers and a controller so far.

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                            #14
                            Sadly no, the railways have not been taken into workers' control. Ideally, when we do that, there's be no need to inform the bosses, they'll just notice they can't get into their offices or computers and no-on is interested in anything they say.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
                              Meanwhile at the current rate of consumption I'm next going to need to get fuel for my car in about November.
                              Yes, we filled up about a week before lockdown, and have barely used it since then. I estimated we've got over a year's worth of fuel at current rate of consumption. I myself haven't actually been in a motorised vehicle of any sort for three weeks now.

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                                #16
                                Subways and buses in New York are running on an "essential service" timetable, which is roughly equivalent to a Sunday schedule, though with more service at peak times and less outside of those periods. Ridership is estimated at between 10 and 20 percent of seasonal averages and there have been disturbing stories of essential workers being harassed and/or robbed on trains (the decline in crime is nowhere near as sharp as that in ridership).

                                Transit workers have been hit particularly hard by the virus. As of today, 41 have died.

                                Commuter trains are also running on reduced schedules, again with more service at peak times.

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                                  #17
                                  Local Translink buses are running a free service. This seemed counter-intuitive to me, until I realised it's to protect drivers. They don't have to touch money, and on buses with rear doors the front doors will remain shut so cash and the touch-screen is inaccessible, to preserve physical distance.

                                  I haven't taken transit in about a month, and only driven about 4km a week since the restrictions took effect.

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                                    #18
                                    Buses here are also free for the same reason. The front quarter of the bus is chained off to protect the driver.

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                                      #19
                                      An overview of the effect on the UK rail industry:-

                                      - The government has given all operators a temporary franchise, initially from 1st March for six months, but with the expectation it will continue beyond that. The EMAs (Emergency Measures Agreements) mean the DfT can dictate the timetable, but will also reimburse all the operators for revenue shortfalls. A number of operators were on the edge anyway so they welcomed this. The EMA has the contractual merit of Cycling Proficiency Certificate. They are about eight pages basically saying; continue to operate the railway, we'll ask you to do a few things, and if you don't take the piss, we'll give you a load of money. I've never seen the word 'best endeavours' used so many times without any substance as to what is expected by that.

                                      - All the (none OLR) franchises are still being operated by private companies, any suggestion this is nationalisation is madness.

                                      - Timetables have been severely reduced. This happened initially because their was an immediate flurry of staff going sick or choosing to self isolate. However, this rate did not continue so there is now a huge surplus of available staff over the actual requirement to run the timetable.

                                      -The timetable that is being operated is called a key workers timetable but that is a load of bollocks. Train staff have to keep competent in the traction and routes they operate. The timetables are based on cycling enough people through the roster so that they all keep their competency. Otherwise when the lockdown ends, there will be no one to operate the trains and everyone will have to be re-trained.

                                      -Because there are so many operating staff available, when only a third are required, this caused huge problems to start with as mess rooms were rammed with spare staff, so social distancing couldn't be observed. Therefore, one third are in and working, one third are sick or self-isolating, and the remaining third are at home, on-call during shift times and ready to come and cover work immediately if required.

                                      - The above means there is no longer any requirement for premium hours overtime or rest day work, which most railway staff come to rely on. The unions are constantly shifting their advice to members, but with a consistent theme that it stops staff remaining competent, which will inevitably lead to a huge requirement for training in the future when the full service is re-introduced, which will of course mean a load of rest day work for members. If you hear RMT/ASLEF kicking off in the next couple of weeks, this is exactly what it will be about, nothing to do with social distancing etc.

                                      - All management staff are working from home. All ticket office staff are in work as they operate behind glass screens. Gateline staff are continuing to operate as they are challenging people as to if their journeys fit the essential criteria.

                                      - Train loadings are averaging five or fewer passengers on a train at any one time. The major new business has been drug running, with cars now be stopped by the police on motorways, moving major quantities of drugs has increased on the railway. The recent fine for the woman at Newcastle who had travelled from York with no apparent reason, was drug running, but the police turned up too late to pick up the person she handed her consignment to.

                                      - The movement towards large signalling centres and controls, means NR haven't had too many challenges in keeping railways open. The at risk lines are ones with traditional signal boxes, as they require a signaller every few miles, and at every level crossing.

                                      - NR are being challenged because of how they do maintenance. This is usually a gang of six men in a van. They are now having to take multiple vehicles, meaning when incidents do occur, response times are longer.

                                      - Similarly, a lot of maintenance or major renewals work activity involves lots of people being on site, and working in multiples for heavy lifts and installations. These methods of working do not fit in well with social distancing, so a lot of the major engineering work has been postponed on these grounds, rather than having enough staff. There is therefore a growing backlog of maintenance work.

                                      - Another reason the DfT wanted the passenger timetable to be thinned out, was to create more paths for freight, under the bizarre naivety that the railway carried a load of food and medical supplies. Of course this has never happened, and at the same time the emergency timetable was put in, was 10 weeks since the Chinese lockdown, so suddenly there was nothing arriving at British ports for the Freightliner operators to move. Instead, they are moving a lot more aggregates than ever before, because the restriction has always been available train paths, as they are long heavy trains that move so slowly.

                                      - Finally, the reduced number of trains operating, having three times as many trains and staff required to operate them, and no passengers on them to delay them at stations, means that current reliability and punctuality figures are the best the industry has ever know.

                                      But, we're all fucked when we have to go back to the full timetable.
                                      Last edited by Big Boobs and FIRE!; 12-04-2020, 20:38.

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                                        #20
                                        I knew you were going to say that trains were now running on time...

                                        Thanks for the insight, some fascinating nuggets of info in there, i think my wfh period is likely to last a bit longer if trains are fucked when things go back to normal(ish)

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                                          #21
                                          Just in case people forget.

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                                            #22
                                            Went for a walk just now and a bus went past with zero passengers on it.

                                            Got a question for Big Boobs and FIRE! - what do gate staff need as proof your journey is essential? Do you need a note from your employer or something.

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                                              #23
                                              I can answer this, it isn't for staff to decide what is an essential journey and what isn't. In fact, staff on the gate line have been instructed not to challenge anyone with regard to this or ticket fraud in case there is a confrontation and staff get infected. In reality this means that no-one is paying and people are just pushing through the barriers at will.

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                                                #24
                                                Ah cool. If only I had somewhere to go on the train.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Have seen BTP on gate line at Stratford stopping and questioning people going through.

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