Extra Barry Services, Going against Welsh government advice?

[Nick Ashwell]

With TfW operating extra Barry Island services are they not encouraging people to break the five mile rule? Surely going against your political masters is only going to cause huge issues.

Personally I'd hope for a full investigation into this "encouraging" of people to go to the beach, capacity shouldn't be provided for those flaunting the rules!

 

[Bletchleyite]

If people are travelling and the BTP aren't enforcing it, it is sensible to do this to reduce spread.

 

[Cardiff123]

The 5 mile 'rule' in Wales is not strictly a 'rule', it's just advice that the Welsh Govt would like everyone to follow to limit the spread of the virus. It's not a law. So if TfW are not going to stop people boarding their trains who clearly are not making 'essential' journeys, then putting on extra services and capacity is the sensible thing to do.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

The alternative being what?

Cram a few thousand people onto a couple of scheduled pacers? Make the b******s suffer for daring to want to go out. Billy Connolly does an excellent stand-up routine about dour presbyterians "och we'll pay for this (sunshine)'.

It seems like a very pragmatic decision from the operator (of whom I am not a fan for a few good reasons).

A problem has been identified quickly, a solution found, and then implemented with remarkable agility.

 

[bramling]

The alternative being what?

Cram a few thousand people onto a couple of scheduled pacers? Make the b******s suffer for daring to want to go out. Billy Connolly does an excellent stand-up routine about dour presbyterians "och we'll pay for this (sunshine)'.

It seems like a very pragmatic decision from the operator (of whom I am not a fan for a few good reasons).

A problem has been identified quickly, a solution found, and then implemented with remarkable agility.

The difficulty is of course if something else has been robbed of capacity in order to provide this lengthening. I don't suppose we have anyone on here who can say if that is the case or not?

 

[mmh]

The difficulty is of course if something else has been robbed of capacity in order to provide this lengthening. I don't suppose we have anyone on here who can say if that is the case or not?

Almost certainly not, TFW's timetable is so reduced there'll be plenty of spare units. The North appears to be run with two units, which can be ones never seen normally, for example pairs of 153s and a 150.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

I'd say it was a sensible and pragmatic reaction by TfW. The vast majority of people in Wales are following the guidelines. Some people, particularly younger people, are feeling frustrated though for understandable reasons. It's far better to quietly ease those frustrations in the safest possible way, rather than pretend that they don't exist.

 

[AdamWW]

With TfW operating extra Barry Island services are they not encouraging people to break the five mile rule? Surely going against your political masters is only going to cause huge issues.

Personally I'd hope for a full investigation into this "encouraging" of people to go to the beach, capacity shouldn't be provided for those flaunting the rules!

On the other hand...

TfW Rail are insisting that their trains are for essential use only even for journeys under 5 miles - the email they sent me on Thursday said: "Our trains are currently only for key workers and essential travel. "

Yet the Welsh Government frequently asked questions says
"Can I use public transport?
Yes. There are, however, fewer train services..."

 

[PHILIPE]

With TfW operating extra Barry Island services are they not encouraging people to break the five mile rule? Surely going against your political masters is only going to cause huge issues.

Personally I'd hope for a full investigation into this "encouraging" of people to go to the beach, capacity shouldn't be provided for those flaunting the rules!

Whatever what you want an investigation for ? When the trains started running it was towards the end of the day so the people would already be there. They would have been trying to catch the booked trains anyway so this was a common sense move.

 

[AdamWW]

If people are travelling and the BTP aren't enforcing it, it is sensible to do this to reduce spread.

Just had a response from TFW Rail to my question of why they are still banning non-essential travel when the Welsh Government is saying it's OK if you can't travel by any other means.

They seemed to be claiming that it's on orders from the government and in line with the rest of the UK, though it was a bit ambigous and may have been referring to social distancing requirements not the travel ban.

But they also used the "overloaded" Barry services as justification for a complete ban on non essential travel on all lines at all times. Am I being unreasonable in thinking that a slightly more nuanced approach might be possible?