Social distancing on public transport as things open up

[whole diary]

[grahame]

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

EasyJet plans to keep the middle seat on its planes empty to allow for social distancing once the Covid-19 lockdown has been lifted.

The airline grounded its entire fleet at the end of March.

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren expects the seating measure will encourage more people to fly. "That is something that we will do because I think that is something that the customers would like to see," he said.

"Then we will work out with the authorities and listen to the customers' views and points on what they believe is the right thing to do, particularly in the start-up period."

Are EasyJet planes all 3+3 seating (sorry - I don't fly enough to know) or is this more complex than the sound bite?

I saw comment the other day (should have noted my source) - a suggestion from someone that as trains start to open up for more general travel again, pre-booking and seat reservations should be required for all journeys to allow separation to be enforced.    Sounds rather like the idea that came from Virgin to the fares consultation than went into Williams that's gone ... I don't know where at the moment.

[Red Squirrel]

I can't see that this would help much. According to some, airborne virus particles can stay suspended in the air for some considerable time. Surely they would spread throughout an airliner?

I can't help but wonder where this leaves us on rail. The trend in recent decades has been to turn trains into single spaces. Is it time to reconsider the compartment?

[TaplowGreen]

I can't see that this would help much. According to some, airborne virus particles can stay suspended in the air for some considerable time. Surely they would spread throughout an airliner?

I can't help but wonder where this leaves us on rail. The trend in recent decades has been to turn trains into single spaces. Is it time to reconsider the compartment?

Given that Professor Fergusson is suggesting that social distancing may need to be a feature of life for another year or more, one wonders where that leaves the railways.

[broadgage]

As GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are busy, I have done the press release for them.

"As conditions partially return to normal, passenger numbers are increasing. More customers are enjoying our new improved trains, and the many attractions that may be visited via our network.
We urge customers to follow good hygiene practice, with frequent hand washing or use of hand sanitiser.
We can not ensure a 2 meter social distance on board our increasingly popular trains, but will introduce an enhanced cleaning regime for the protection of staff and customers.
Our enhanced at seat catering offer remains suspended for your safety."

Which is good corporate speak for not doing anything much.

[Red Squirrel]

I can't see that this would help much. According to some, airborne virus particles can stay suspended in the air for some considerable time. Surely they would spread throughout an airliner?

I can't help but wonder where this leaves us on rail. The trend in recent decades has been to turn trains into single spaces. Is it time to reconsider the compartment?

Given that Professor Fergusson is suggesting that social distancing may need to be a feature of life for another year or more, one wonders where that leaves the railways.

Indeed. Personally I suspect that talk of one year is optimistic.

A sustainable transport system is a hierarchy, with walking the highest priority, followed by cycling, buses and taxis, and rail. To those of us who seek to promote rail, it is embarrassingly obvious that active modes (walking and cycling) can be delivered at a tiny fraction of the cost of rail. It is also very obvious that for as long as there is no vaccine of antiviral solution to Covid-19 (and any successors!), the Northern Line is going to be a very unappealing prospect. Coach, taxi and air travel will also continue to suffer.

I wonder how many of these widened bicycle lanes that have been popping up will become permanent?

[IndustryInsider]

Which is good corporate speak for not doing anything much.

Enhanced cleaning is very much a feature now.  Cleaners at larger stations now join a train that has terminated and thoroughly cleanse public surfaces and also staff areas.  This is possible as there is practically no litter to pick up at the moment.

In terms of a longer term plan, what do you and others think GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the other operators should do to best help the response to the virus? 

Some potential options are:

1) To only provide a limited service to key workers like now for many months.
2) Relax the restrictions to include travel to and from work for all workers, who should wear face masks and keep to social distancing guidelines as best as possible, but ban business or leisure trips.
3) Not restrict travel but insist all passengers wear face masks and try to keep social distancing as best as possible.
4) Restrict travel by introducing a 'with reservation only' service on long journeys and introduce quota control on other services to ensure social distancing guidelines can be adhered to as best as possible.

[WSW Frome]

Coincidentally I have just been looking at the Delta Airlines website and they will not be booking middle seats (of 3) until a date in June.

[TaplowGreen]

TfL^» (Transport for London - about) are now running 9 car trains between Reading & Paddington which may help a bit.

[Robin Summerhill]

In terms of a longer term plan, what do you and others think GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the other operators should do to best help the response to the virus? 

Some potential options are:

1) To only provide a limited service to key workers like now for many months.
2) Relax the restrictions to include travel to and from work for all workers, who should wear face masks and keep to social distancing guidelines as best as possible, but ban business or leisure trips.
3) Not restrict travel but insist all passengers wear face masks and try to keep social distancing as best as possible.
4) Restrict travel by introducing a 'with reservation only' service on long journeys and introduce quota control on other services to ensure social distancing guidelines can be adhered to as best as possible.

The options put forward by II possibly show why the government is keeping very quiet about all this at the moment.

There are many factors to take into account above and beyond the question of whether or not to loosen restrictions, many of which have nothing to do with the restrictions themselves.

Firstly, how are people going to react when all this is over? We don’t know is the short answer. Home working may catch on reducing some of the need for commuting; individuals, especially those in high risk groups, might not want to return to normal in the short term anyway; and some forms of loosening, whilst they might sound good on first hearing, don’t look so good when you delve down into the practicalities. Just for example’s sake, as a retired old git in pre BC days, I was not above looking at the weather forecast, finding out it’s better further east today, then jumping in to a Paddington-bound HST^▸ (High Speed Train) (I said it was pre-BC days!) and walking the Grand Union canal between Slough and Harlington, or the Regents Canal from Paddington to Camden, or to walk the DNS^▸ (Domain name service) trackbed from Didcot to Upton. I'm not sure I am in any hurry to go back to doing that even if the rules allowed me to.

Something else that we need to bear in mind, and I am not trying to be callous when I say this, is that people die of diseases every day. That in itself is nothing new. I believe I am right in saying that 10,000 people die each year in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) from flu. That’s an average of 200 a week. If covid 19 deaths get down to the same sort of levels, should we really all be wearing face masks and social distancing, or should we just be a bit careful not to get to close to anybody who is coughing and looks sweaty? I am not saying yes and I’m not saying no – I’m just posing the question.

In other examples (from the list): “Restrict travel by introducing a 'with reservation only' service on long journeys.” What’s a long distance journey? You’ll need to define it and, when you do, there will be outliers that will put spanners in the works. So how long is “long?”- 50 miles? If so, from Chippenham I could go to Goring & Streatley without reservation, but I’d need one to go to Pangbourne. I think you would agree there’s a bit of sense not being made there, and it is caused purely and simply by trying to over-define things.And that is of course only an example and not a one-off. If you try to mileage-define restrictions there will always be people who can go to Five Ways but not Birmingham, Finsbury Park but not Kings Cross, Lostock Hall but not Preston, and so on.

Similarly, “Ban leisure travel.” That would need to be defined. Is going to Marks & Spencer in Bath to buy a pair of shoes “leisure travel?” Is going to see an octogenarian uncle in Cheltenham who probably won’t be around much longer “leisure travel?” If one is but the other isn’t, how in the World is that going to be policed? Would it not be far simpler to say to people ”Keep leisure travel to a minimum” because that will probably achieve an equally good result without people trying to decide what is allowed and what isn’t, with half of the population disagreeing with them after they’ve decided anyway.

I am not the sort of person who puts unquestioning trust in any government, but I do feel at the moment that cans of worms could be opened if we are not careful when the restrictions start to be relaxed, so for the time being I am happy to be kept in blissful ignorance.

[IndustryInsider]

TfL^» (Transport for London - about) are now running 9 car trains between Reading & Paddington which may help a bit.

Yes indeed - still some 7-cars around, but TfL Rail are slowly going over to 9-car operation of 345s out of Paddington.

Perhaps an eagerness to follow social distancing guidelines will persuade people to spread down along the whole length of the train in a way never before thought possible. 

[IndustryInsider]

In other examples (from the list): “Restrict travel by introducing a 'with reservation only' service on long journeys.” What’s a long distance journey? You’ll need to define it and, when you do, there will be outliers that will put spanners in the works. So how long is “long?”- 50 miles? If so, from Chippenham I could go to Goring & Streatley without reservation, but I’d need one to go to Pangbourne. I think you would agree there’s a bit of sense not being made there, and it is caused purely and simply by trying to over-define things.And that is of course only an example and not a one-off. If you try to mileage-define restrictions there will always be people who can go to Five Ways but not Birmingham, Finsbury Park but not Kings Cross, Lostock Hall but not Preston, and so on.

Yes, there's certainly a lot of scope for poor definitions.

I guess I was thinking along the lines that any journey on a train on which seat reservations can be made would apply, so not necessarily long distance journeys, and indeed not always on long distance trains.  A 'reservation only' service would at least restrict over usage - wheraes on non-reservable trains that is much more of a problem.  Though a 'counted places' mechanism does exist within the reservation system that controls the quota on some advance tickets, however whether that could (and the practicalities if it did) get extended to all trains operating is a good question.

All sorts of problems and hurdles to overcome.  I suspect that any attempts will be, as Broadgage put it 'corporate speech for not doing anything much' - purely because doing much more is unworkable.  One thing for sure is that it won't be GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s decision as the railway is currently in public hands.

[Bmblbzzz]

I have access to the analyst call EasyJet made today (I am not a financial analyst or anything in aviation,nor do I work for EasyJet) and Lundgren did not say they would do this. He said it was one of a number of measures they would look at as and when they get their fleet operational again with the lifting of restrictions etc. He also mentioned disinfection, face masks and boarding procedures and that they are in dialogue with the regulators. Furthermore, he expects demand would initially be low enough that they could block off middle seats without turning passengers away, and that demand would initially return on domestic flights (due to immigration restrictions, mostly).

[IndustryInsider]

TfL^» (Transport for London - about) are now running 9 car trains between Reading & Paddington which may help a bit.

They all appear to have gone back down to 7-cars for some reason?