Major British railway companies are preparing to considerably reduce their services to the public as the rate of coronavirus infections in the United Kingdom begins to accelerate and demand for rail travel falls.
While rail staff have been designated as so-called “key workers” by the government for the purposes of its response to the coronavirus — alongside doctors and nurses, government officials, and police officers — the industry is preparing to scale down its level of service, following similar moves by the London Underground mass transit subway system, also known as the Tube.
The Department for Transport had been in talks with the independent Train Operating Companies (TOCs) over reducing levels of service to reflect the impact of nationwide shutdowns while still keeping the railways open to urgent use and freight, which would continue at capacity. It said on Friday that the government had come to an agreement with TOCs over reducing timetables, which it said reflected “lower passenger demand, while keeping vital rail services running.”
In an explanatory note sent to staff by one railway company seen by Breitbart London, the operator said: “We are proposing to run an enhanced Sunday service with additional early morning and evening peak services. This will be roughly 55-60 per cent of our normal Mon-Fri service level… We are not in control of the timescales for this potential situation, but we commit to keeping you updated on this, as soon as the plan is confirmed. As always, the over-riding principle will be to operate a safe and reliable railway, both for our employees, and our passengers.”
The restricted service will commence from Monday, in time with several other areas of public life which are also being restricted over the weekend. Most of the nation’s schools will close on Friday afternoon and not reopen, potentially for months, except to act as day-care for the children of key workers.
The government had previously said that, while it didn’t want to run empty “ghost services”, cutting back too many trains would make it difficult for those people who had to take the train to sit apart from other passengers.
Speaking of the change in services, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said: “We are taking decisive action to protect the public which means reducing travel for the time being, whilst still ensuring keyworker heroes can get to their jobs to keep this nation running. For passengers in crucial roles, including essential workers in our emergency services and NHS, alongside people who need to attend medical appointments or care for loved ones, these changes protect the services they rely on.
“Our railways are at the heart of this country’s transport links, and we continue to work closely with the industry to develop measures that protect operators in these challenging times.”
While TOCs have contracts with the government which guarantee a minimum level of service under penalty of fines, it is possible some of these stipulations could have been suspended for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. The London Underground has already cut service, closing 40 stations and providing reduced service on its light rail network, while The Guardian reports that Hull Trains has already cut back to one service a day and the Eurostar service to France is running just three returns a day.
The developments come just days after Mr Shapps seemed to suggest TOCs — as well as airlines and other transport companies — could be nationalised during the coronavirus epidemic if they were at risk of going out of business from a lack of passengers. The minister said the government was “determined” to ensure companies would be ready to resume trading after the crisis had finished.
While the United Kingdom is far behind China and Italy in total numbers of cases and deaths, the number of cases in Britain is now rising with greater speed. The country now has over 3,200 confirmed cases, and 144 fatalities.