Could we see a return to "essential travel only" messaging?

[matt]

West Midlands Railway have published their advice https://www.westmidlandsrailway.co....p-trains-running-during-enhanced-restrictions

The government travel advice during the period of enhanced restrictions, which can be found here, states that people 'can and should' still travel for important journeys, which include:

• Travelling to work when you cannot work from home
• Travelling to education or for caring responsibilities
• Attending hospital, GP or other medical appointments
• Visiting venues permitted to remain open, such as essential retail
• Exercising if you need to make a short journey to do so

 

[Huntergreed]

Good to see the messaging and rules aren’t quite as harsh as they were last time

 

[_toommm_]

Looks like the wording has changed (the bolding is mine)

Living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19

Guidance for living safely with respiratory infections, including coronavirus (COVID-19).

www.gov.uk

That makes it pretty clear to me that using the train to go walking or cycling is very much permitted and perhaps even encouraged.

Thank you for that if I get furloughed this time round I’ll definitely take advantage of that.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

West Midlands Railway have published their advice https://www.westmidlandsrailway.co....p-trains-running-during-enhanced-restrictions

Does it say 'short journey' in any of the official documentation? WMR just making it up how they think it should be.

 

[matt]

Does it say 'short journey' in any of the official documentation? WMR just making it up how they think it should be.

The government guidance linked to above suggests the exercise should be local where possible so a reasonable interpretation of that is a short journey

 

[birchesgreen]

Does it say 'short journey' in any of the official documentation? WMR just making it up how they think it should be.

Seems in the spirit of what is on gov.uk to me. You don't need to travel for hours to find somewhere nice to exercise (unless you live at the South Pole perhaps).

"to spend time or exercise outdoors - this should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)"

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Does it say 'short journey' in any of the official documentation? WMR just making it up how they think it should be.

On the official government website the advice yesterday as posted by _toommm_ was "You can travel to.....exercise, if you need to make a short journey to do so" but in the last day or so the wording has changed to "You can travel..... to spend time or exercise outdoors - this should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)"

 

[Huntergreed]

It’s looking very likely that in Scotland it will be made illegal to leave your council area unless it is absolutely essential. I’m absolutely beyond sick of all these rules being introduced which are in no way proportionate to the situation. Luckily I’m a student so if challenged I have a valid reason to travel, but this is just ridiculous.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I wonder how amenable people will be to "essential travel only" again?

When you consider how many places are "tourist hot spots" which have many of their places of interest now closed to visitors (I have York in mind as a prime example), then travel to such places is meaningless for the next four weeks during the current lockdown scenario.

 

[LowLevel]

Numbers seem little different in the East Midlands this morning.

 

[_toommm_]

Train into Manchester this morning seemed about as busy as always. Piccadilly did seem a lot quieter though but still nowhere near as quiet as it was in the first lockdown.

 

[1D54]

Numbers seem little different in the East Midlands this morning.

There seemed to be a good number of people going into Leicester Station this morning. 3 police officers were in the foyer area but were challenging nobody asking for reasons why they were travelling.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

When you consider how many places are "tourist hot spots" which have many of their places of interest now closed to visitors (I have York in mind as a prime example), then travel to such places is meaningless for the next four weeks during the current lockdown scenario.

Not necessarily; for some of us the traditional tourist hotspots are far more attractive when they're deserted! And I too have York in mind as a priime example.

 

[221129]

3 police officers were in the foyer area but were challenging nobody asking for reasons why they were travelling.

Good. Let's hope they keep that up.

 

[philjo]

I suspect that Police patrols have increased following the raising of the security alert level after the Vienna incident earlier this week. There were more police visible at Kings Cross yesterday than I have seen for some time.

 

[Domh245]

Northern line was reasonably busy today. Certainly not pre-peak, but not exactly quiet

I suspect that Police patrols have increased following the raising of the security alert level after the Vienna incident earlier this week. There were more police visible at Kings Cross yesterday than I have seen for some time.

Bingo - terrorism threat level was raised to severe the other day off the back of Vienna and the French incidents in recent weeks

 

[MikeWM]

Ah, that probably explains why there were so many police around gatelines on the Tube yesterday [1], many more than I'm used to seeing. I was wondering if they were expecting trouble on the last night before lockdown, but that makes more sense.

[1] and for some reason, a very large bunch of them in Currys in Westfield in Shepherds Bush! Either something had happened recently, or they were going en-masse in uniform to buy iPads or something. An odd sight though.

 

[route101]

Same passenger levels in Tier 3 around Glasgow this week. Already broken the rules by going through East Renfrewshire from South Lanarkshire.

 

[221129]

Same passenger levels in Tier 3 around Glasgow this week. Already broken the rules by going through East Renfrewshire from South Lanarkshire.

What rule would that be?

 

[Scotrail12]

Saw a lot of police in Central station yesterday, kinda intimidated and thought it was to police essential travel - completely forgot it was to do with terrorism!

 

[route101]

What rule would that be?

Going between local authorities.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Nov 2020 ==

Saw a lot of police in Central station yesterday, kinda intimidated and thought it was to police essential travel - completely forgot it was to do with terrorism!

They had the sniffer dog, not sure if the police ever questioned people at Glasgow Central .

 

[221129]

Going between local authorities.

As far as I can tell that's not actually a rule yet. So how can it be broken?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Nov 2020 ==

They had the sniffer dog, not sure if the police ever questioned people at Glasgow Central .

There have been a lot of County Lines based operations recently. Could be to do with that.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Northern Twitter hasn't gone back to "Essential travel only" which is a relief.

However, "please try not to travel before the 3rd of December" might have been okay.

 

[PTR 444]

Unlike the first lockdown, there is no blanket ban on making non-essential journeys this time round. Even so, the closure of non-essential businesses means there are now fewer reasons to travel and it has got me wondering, are railway staff/bus drivers asking passengers their reason for travelling again? I’d like to think that this isn’t the case.

 

[route101]

I've never been asked or seen anyone asked.

 

[Jamesrob637]

The motorway signs are advising "Essential travel only" as of this morning.

 

[Huntergreed]

Scotrail guard on the 11:38 off Glasgow Queen Street announced “as this is a tier 3 area, this service is for essential travel only”.

It does look as though this is going to be written in law within the next week or so anyway for Scotland.

 

[Mag_seven]

Scotrail guard on the 11:38 off Glasgow Queen Street announced “as this is a tier 3 area, this service is for essential travel only”.

It does look as though this is going to be written in law within the next week or so anyway for Scotland.

It will be interesting to see if they define "essential"!

 

[Mojo]

Even so, the closure of non-essential businesses means there are now fewer reasons to travel and it has got me wondering, are railway staff/bus drivers asking passengers their reason for travelling again? I’d like to think that this isn’t the case.

Even with so-called non essential retail being closed, many such shops are remaining open for click and collect, along with garden centres being open. Not that I’d have thought many customers in the latter category will be travelling by public transport, but the former category will probably generate a bit of interest for smaller orders given that many retailers charge a delivery fee.

 

[Richard Scott]

Scotrail guard on the 11:38 off Glasgow Queen Street announced “as this is a tier 3 area, this service is for essential travel only”.

It does look as though this is going to be written in law within the next week or so anyway for Scotland.

Another great idea from Sturgeon and her cronies, is she expecting Westminster to pay for all the trains carrying fresh air around then or has she got a wee stash somewhere?