Planning for restoration of services

[whole diary]

[Celestial]

The Guardian is reporting that the rail unions are concerned over safety on trains. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/may/03/uk-coronavirus-live-doctors-had-prepared-to-announce-boris-johnsons-death?page=with:block-5eaec5c68f087d47c77887ce#liveblog-navigation
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Rail unions warn against lifting lockdown to run more trains
Three rail unions have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, and Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, saying this is not the time to lift the lockdown and run more trains.
The joint letter – signed by the heads of ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about), RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) and the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about)– says it is ‘completely unacceptable’ to put the lives of passengers and rail staff at risk.
They warn:
 
We have severe concerns over attempts by operators to increase service levels. First, it sends out a mixed message that it is okay to travel by train – despite official advice suggesting otherwise. This mixed messaging could be dangerous and lead to the public flouting the rules on travel and work.
Second, there is no agreement on how actually services can be increased whilst protecting workers and passengers. This includes protections through social distancing, adequate and appropriate PPE, and determination of essential and non-essential tasks.

The good news for the RMT is that the majority of commuter services in the South East are able to run without a guard on board, so that will reduce one possible risk for its members whilst still enabling many services to run.

Generally though I think the points are well made, and I'm sure the government are aware of them, if not the detail of every situation. I think there was a comment in today's briefing (or maybe it was yesterday's  - they all seem to merge into one) that it would be working with industry and the unions to come up with safe working arrangements. Let's hope that is more than paying lip service to the need for collaboration. 

[CyclingSid]

In Germany their R0 was 0.7. With their first relaxation of restrictions it went up to 0.96. The problem is also that R0 is a retrospective measure, not current.

On face masks/coverings I expect it to be about as effective as cycle helmets. A significant proportion of face coverings I see seem to be intended to stop germs getting to their neck. Just as cycle helmets are worn unstrapped or dangling from the handlebars. Must admit I am not keen on either.

Other sightings are people wearing the higher specification face masks, with a beard. Sorry guys it doesn't work. It has to be fitted to seal, fungus doesn't allow that.

[froome]

In Germany their R0 was 0.7. With their first relaxation of restrictions it went up to 0.96. The problem is also that R0 is a retrospective measure, not current.

On face masks/coverings I expect it to be about as effective as cycle helmets. A significant proportion of face coverings I see seem to be intended to stop germs getting to their neck. Just as cycle helmets are worn unstrapped or dangling from the handlebars. Must admit I am not keen on either.

Other sightings are people wearing the higher specification face masks, with a beard. Sorry guys it doesn't work. It has to be fitted to seal, fungus doesn't allow that.

It will be the sting in the tail for people like me when they bring in laws that state that beards have to be shaved off to be allowed to go outside!

[Robin Summerhill]

Question - does the rush hour and 9 to 5 date from times when daylight was needed for travel and activities - before the electric light came between 100 and 150 years?

A simple question with a very complicated answer, and I'm not even sure that the premis of the quesion starts at the right place!

Personally I have never - ever - had a 9 to 5 job. I have had 0830-1700, 0800-1600, 0800-1630, 0845-1715, 0845-1645 and 24 hour 3-shift working. And I'm not even going to try to list the various working day lengths I had when self-employed!. OK I accept that this is a bit of a pedantic point, but I have long thought that this 9 to 5 idea is something of a general press construct, much thw same as every passenger on a train is a commuter, even at 1500 on a Sunday afternoon.

On the wider issue, the human species has had artificial light for thousands of years with (going backwards in time) gas lighting, oil lamps and candles. The lack of daylight didn't stop mill owners operating 12 hour shifts in the 19th century, for example, and daylight is a pretty useless commodity if you are working down a pit!

Perhaos a wider,and more important issue in the long run, is that if "the peak" ceases to exist in its current form, where is the justicication for restricting reduced rate travel until after 0930 on Mondays to Fridays?

[stuving]

Question - does the rush hour and 9 to 5 date from times when daylight was needed for travel and activities - before the electric light came between 100 and 150 years?

A simple question with a very complicated answer, and I'm not even sure that the premis of the quesion starts at the right place!

I'd agree with that. By the time I started work most offices, including civil service ones, started at 8 or 8:30, but my Mum assured me they used to work 9-5 before the war and for some time after. She and Dad both started work in the Post Office Savings Bank in South Kensington, and were in digs close by so it was not a long journey. Of course public offices (and Post Offices) had always been 9-5, so those working in them had to start earlier.

I think it all comes down to class, or at least status. Office work was by definition not working class labour, at least to start with, and the civil service in particular was seen as a privilege (as it still is in Italy, and elsewhere). Some time (and I've never found much information about this), once offices had become the new shop-floors for mass employment, their hours lost this element of status.

When I was in the apprentice school in Marconi (Chelmsford) in 1968 this difference in office and shop-floor hours was sharply resented by the craft apprentices. They worked longer hours overall, and it was the office workers going home earlier on Fridays that really rankled. Of course since they knocked off earlier on other days (unless they did overtime) they never saw what time the office workers stayed until - mostly unpaid on those days.

[TaplowGreen]

I think the public sector (particularly Civil Service and Local Government) have long had flexible working in place in terms of start/finish times so it shouldn't be a problem for them.

Big cultural and practical shift elsewhere though.

[Bmblbzzz]

If 9-5 was intended to reflect daylight hours it would vary by time of year and latitude. Pretty relevant in eg agriculture or construction but less so in offices and factories.

[IndustryInsider]

I think the public sector (particularly Civil Service and Local Government) have long had flexible working in place in terms of start/finish times so it shouldn't be a problem for them.

Big cultural and practical shift elsewhere though.

Very true.  

You can potentially double the number of people working in an office if instead of a rough 9-5 pattern for everyone, a roster is put into place with 6am-2pm and 3pm-11pm ‘shifts’ (the hour in between used to allow staff to exit and enter the building and for sanitising work surfaces).  

It won’t work everywhere, and people have to be able to get in and back home at those times of course, but with measures like that, and half the office continuing to work from home, you could cut down on the amount of office space being required by 75% - as well as spread out the use of public transport.

[eightonedee]

[You can potentially double the number of people working in an office if instead of a rough 9-5 pattern for everyone, a roster is put into place with 6am-2pm and 3pm-11pm ‘shifts’ (the hour in between used to allow staff to exit and enter the building and for sanitising work surfaces). /quote]

All of this ignores fundamental human biology. The "9 to 5" day does no more than reflect our natural circadian rhythm. Disrupting this will almost certainly have adverse health impacts (as often the case with shift workers) and adverse impact on working efficiency if a substantial proportion of the population works outside the usual daylight hours. Better I would have thought to phase full-time working back in for those who have been working at home, with half the workforce in at any one time. Does not work for any industry where you have to have everyone on site at the same time - but then neither would II's suggested shift pattern.

[IndustryInsider]

The reason I suggested it is because many (the majority?) of office buildings won’t be able to deal with 50% of the workforce in at any one time.  Either through lack of desk space with social distancing measures, or more likely, effective movement of people to and from those desks. 

One large London employer that I know very well simply hasn’t got the lift capacity to deal with a maximum of one or two people at a time over its 15 floor London offices and is pretty much doing home working for all staff until September at the earliest.

There’s certainly no one-size-fits-all solution though, so different approaches will have to be made in order to comply for different places of work.

[Bmblbzzz]

I'd say that 9 to 5 (or 8 to 6 or whatever) also ignores circadian rhythms for a lot of people. Having two shifts which, for at least part of the year, guarantee everyone either starts or finishes in darkness, is going to make it even worse.

[Sixty3Closure]

Our office which has several thousand people normally is working at 7% capacity after social distancing measures. That might seem low but there's a lot of technical kit and roles which limit opportunities to get people in. There's also the lift and stairs problem. Assuming we move some non-essential teams out and restack the building we're probably not going to get above 12% occupancy.

Haven't got as far as looking at transport although the worry is that essential staff who are comfortable travelling at the moment won't be if numbers ramp up.

I wasn't planning on going back to the office soon anyway.

[Electric train]

The message within the part of the railway I work in is, despite the office reopening the work from home will continue to be the preferred option for the foreseeable future

[stuving]

The message within the part of the railway I work in is, despite the office reopening the work from home will continue to be the preferred option for the foreseeable future

That's been part of the overall message (or plan) elsewhere as the next step arrives.

I got a message from Oui.com about TGVs^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse), which are easier than urban transport since there will be some legal restrictions on longe-rdistance travel. But remember that all TGVs are reservation-only, and France never set a spacing limit further than 1 m, so blanking out half the seats is a feasible way forward. For RERs, Transilien, and for RATP it's much harder. They can talk about the same half-seats-only spacing rules, but then need some way to control boarding. So far I've not seen anything workable - and D(décomfinement)-Day is next Monday (11th). Buses and trams have similar issues, but worse, as they don't even offer the place to do filtering of people on entry if you knew how.

Other factors will affect all trains, as well as buses and trams, such as the need for hand-cleaning facilities, disinfecting everything, and in France making sure everyone has a mask. The ECDC (who no doubt feel they are heeded even less than the WHO) have a set of guidelines for this phase, which suggests an interesting option for here:

Personal protective measures on public transport in the context of COVID-19

Public transport is an essential service. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic there are two types of risks
related to public transport. First, crowding in public transport and their use by large numbers of people can
contribute to direct transmission of COVID-19 through respiratory droplets and indirect transmission through
contaminated surfaces; second, public transport staff are at increased risk of infection. The following measures
are recommended to mitigate these risks and maintain public transport services:

• Inform the passengers about the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and advise that they should not use
  public transport if showing COVID-19 compatible symptoms (cough, sore throat, general weakness and
  fatigue, and muscular pain);
  
• Ensure physical distancing for service staff at booths, ideally behind glass or plastic panels;
  
• Consider using protective barriers for the driver, when the driving compartment is not physically
  separated from the travellers;
  
• Disseminate information infographics for display in waiting areas, platforms and docks, explaining the
  importance of physical distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and the appropriate use of face
  masks if advised by health authorities;
  
• Facilitate physical distancing on public transport:
   - Prevent crowding in public transport and in the waiting areas through the provision of sufficient
  vehicles and consider enhancing the service during rush hour times.
   - Encourage physical distancing in the waiting areas only and allow the use of every other seat when
  on the vehicle/wagon/boat.
   - Consider reducing the maximum number of passengers per vehicle/wagon/boat to avoid crowding
  and ensure physical distancing of at least one metre. If the distance is less than two metres, the
  use of face masks may be considered.
  - In buses, introduce boarding from the rear doors to ensure physical distancing from the driver if
  the driving compartment is not physically separated from the travellers.
  
• Ensure the availability of face masks to staff who are not physically separated from travellers when
  working;
  
• Ensure proper ventilation in the vehicle/wagon/boat at all times. Avoid recirculating air and encourage the
  use of windows, skylight panels and fans to increase replacement with fresh air. Such measures should be
  adapted based on local conditions, needs and type of vehicles and other equipment in use;
  
• Remind the public about proper hand hygiene before boarding and after disembarking the
  vehicle/wagon/boat. Consider making alcohol based hand-rub solutions available on the vehicles and at
  transport hubs;
  
• Consider the use of face masks (medical or non-medical) for passengers on public transport, particularly if
  physical distancing cannot be guaranteed, paying attention to proper mask use and disposal
  

.

So you could aim to get four times as many people (ish) in trains at 1 m spacing, and say "masks are not very effective, but they do make the difference between 1m and 2m". All you need to do then is to start several weeks ago on building up a supply chain (including manufacture?) and distribution system for some type of mask that's not used medically (so as not to compete) and once there's enough for everyone who needs one...

[Lee]

Greetings from Callac in Brittany, where both the department I live in and the wider Brittany region have today been classed in the "Green" zone, and cleared for deconfinement on Monday (May 11 2020)

Here is a translated article on plans for rail services in Brittany once deconfinement happens from France Bleu:

TER in Brittany: what awaits you from May 11

SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) is also preparing the start of deconfinement from Monday, May 11. In Brittany, half of the TER will circulate again next week. The mask will be mandatory at the station and on trains. However, it will not be necessary to book your TER ticket.

From Monday 11 May, the TER of Brittany will run again. Some lines had been stopped since the start of containment. They will therefore resume but gradually.

It will therefore be necessary to count on 50 to 60% of TER each day or 180 on average . Priority is given to lines used for home / work journeys . SNCF estimates that only a quarter of regular travelers will take the train first.

Every day at 5 p.m., the SNCF will publish the list of trains (TGV^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) and TER) running the next day on its website. Timetables are also available on the Brittany Region transport website.

In Brittany, the reservation will not be compulsory for TER

From May 11, it had to be mandatory to make a reservation even to take a TER. Finally, this provision will not be applied in Brittany. With rolling stock of sufficient capacity and average traffic forecasts, social distancing should not be a problem. Travelers must therefore buy their tickets at the station or online or present their subscription as before. The counters currently closed will also reopen gradually from May 11.

Mandatory masks in stations and trains

If booking is not compulsory in Brittany to board a TER, each passenger must however wear a mask. It will be necessary upon entering the station, on platforms and on trains. Violators will be fined, perhaps by SNCF agents.

On trains, one seat out of two will be neutralized with a pictogram to allow social distancing. Same thing in the station where pictograms are being installed in the big stations of Brittany (32) so that everyone can visualize on the ground the good safety distances between travelers.

But the SNCF also counts on good citizenship and the good conduct of travelers to respect barrier gestures. It publishes a #EnTrainTousResponsables charter.

The trains will be disinfected every 24 hours according to a specific process.

Gradual resumption of TGVs from Brittany from May 11

During confinement, only 2 TGVs traveled between Paris and Brittany per day. From Monday 11 May, TGV traffic will gradually resume. Masks will also be mandatory on board. Please note, TGVs traveling the next day will not be confirmed until 5 p.m. the day before online. It will therefore be possible to have bought a ticket for a TGV which ultimately will not run the next day.

Mask supply is pretty good here in Callac. They are available to buy at the local supermarket, but to be honest, you can get them for free relatively easily - There have been 2 distributions by different organisations to the local population in recent days, both of which I was included in.

From Monday, the distance I can travel from my home increases from the current just 1km to anywhere I like in my department, or 100km as the crow flies if I cross into another department. The forms we have to fill in and carry around with us every time we leave the house to justify our movements will also be largely dropped from Monday, and will only be required for travel to another department over 100km as the crow flies.

I will be aiming to make my first post confinement rail journey next Friday May 15, and I have 3 possible options lined up:

1) Off to Paimpol or Saint Brieuc for a nice walk along the beach, and in the latter case, to see how their local public transport network (one of the best in the region for a 45,000 population) is coping post confinement - This will depend on whether the local discretion that was today granted by the Interior Minister to open the beaches up on a case by case basis is applied.

2) Off to Dinan to look at one of Brittany's most interesting railway stations, and ride on the free local town bus network to see how that is adapting to the current situation - This needs connections to line up, which may not all be available straightaway.

3) Off to Gouarec to monitor progress on the resurrection of the former Carhaix-Loudeac Reseau Breton line which has been restored to Bon Repos so far - This will depend on rail/bus connections at Carhaix that would be available in normal times being restored this early on.

In more general terms, I would also need the Guingamp-Carhaix line, which has been shut to passengers throughout confinement, returning to an at least halfway useful timetable during the first week, which is obviously not guaranteed.

Wish me luck, and whether it is next Friday or a bit further ahead, I will let you know how I get on.