How busy have your trains been?

[infobleep]

On the 10:12 Haywards Heath to Victoria. I counted at least 22 in the carriage I got in, including the On-Board Supervisor who went off to another carriage once we had departed.

This was a carriage nearest the front and by the stairs down to the booking hall.

The train I'm joining, 10:29 has no advanced purchase tickets for sale but also isn't showing as no tickets left either

The 11:40 Guildford to Gatwick Airport has tickets for sale today or has reservations released for it, that have run out. Perhaps they are no longer selling advances on the day.

By the time the 10:29 had departed Dorking Deepdene the front carriage had 14 people in it but none of them were in first class. I imagine first class is mostly carrying around fresh air.

 

[Merle Haggard]

This is inly tendentiously connected with this thread but it doesn't seem worth starting one for a quite trivial point.
Travelling 1st, alone, on 222s I've used the single seat side to leave the double seats free for couples to sit diagonally. Seems no problem - may even have seen reserved seats that side.
Travelling on a 180, however, I was admonished by the steward for sitting in a single seat and told to move. Social distancing was suggested by hand movement.
Because of the position of the 1st in 180s (with the driving standard one side, and the other standards at the other) means that there's a lot of passengers walking through, but in a Meridian there will also inevitably be passengers passing to get to seats.
So is this a genuine rule?

 

[trainophile]

TfW using 2-coach 158s from MAN to south Wales this afternoon. I was at Crewe when the northbound 1328 came through 17 late (appears to be due to a train failure at Cardiff so probably substitute stock), and thought "glad I'm not on the 1431 ex-MAN" which was my original booking, having changed my plans and bought a ticket for the 1331 (1409 ex-CRE). However when that appeared it too was a 2-coach 158, and was pretty full on boarding and became more so as the journey south went on.

What are they playing at, putting on all these old ropey 2-coachers for six hour journeys? We had nice refurbed stock for a short while but that seems to have gone awol.

 

[Ianno87]

0724 Cambridge-Brighton as far as Stevenage this morning. Rough estimate of around 1/3 of seats occupied (12 car train). Back on the 0903 which was quiet (as you'd expect normally in late morning-contra.peak)


The 0709 Cambridge-Kings Cross fast probably left Cambridge with at least 50% of seats occupied.

 

[LowLevel]

1243 Sheffield to Liverpool (4 car 158) had about 170 onboard.

 

[Segedunum]

This is inly tendentiously connected with this thread but it doesn't seem worth starting one for a quite trivial point.
Travelling 1st, alone, on 222s I've used the single seat side to leave the double seats free for couples to sit diagonally. Seems no problem - may even have seen reserved seats that side.
Travelling on a 180, however, I was admonished by the steward for sitting in a single seat and told to move. Social distancing was suggested by hand movement.
Because of the position of the 1st in 180s (with the driving standard one side, and the other standards at the other) means that there's a lot of passengers walking through, but in a Meridian there will also inevitably be passengers passing to get to seats.
So is this a genuine rule?

On LNER you're able to reserve single seats in First.

 

[HST274]

Quite a busy train yesterday with every other seat taken and at least two taken from most two opposite two formations. Only free seats were the fold down ones. I think there were some half empty two opposite two but my fear is not sitting near people but that they would not want to sit next to me. A 4 car train.

 

[30907]

Today: 1033 Hebden Br -Tod (ex Leeds), 4 car 195, 40-50% seats taken
1531 HBD-LDS, 3 car 195, about 50% from Halifax
1611 Forster Sq-Skipton, 333, almost empty (as was the centre of Bradford!).

 

[Wolfie]

Engineering works meant a reduced service on LNWR out of Euston today. Deeply unhelpful that the 1318 to Crewe was only 4 coaches when they've run 8 coach trains through lockdown. First class declassified, very few free seats (but still some AHs who thought that their bag was important, despite announcements) and quite a lot standing. Social distancing? More like sardine tin....

 

[Segedunum]

Services from Waterloo to Weymouth mid-morning were being reported as full and standing from Southampton.

From observations though I'd say that front carriages of these services were more like 20% occupied with it increasing up to about 80% at the back.

That would suggest that most folk were more interested in Bournemouth than points further!

 

[telstarbox]

Colchester to London today was reasonably busy, but the area round Bishopsgate was heaving with people going out out!

 

[Vinnym]

1913 Orrell Park to Ormskirk yesterday 6 car about 30% occupancy.

 

[james60059]

SATURDAY 29TH MAY:

10:34 Nuneaton - Rugby, 4 car Class 350. Full and Standing.
10:59 Rugby - Northampton. 2 x Class 350. About 60% full.
11:37 Northampton - Birmingham New Street. 2 x Class 350. Around 60% - 70% full on arrival at Birmingham.
12:50 Birmingham New Street - Worcester Foregate Street. Class 172/170 combo (4 coaches). Class 170 more or less full, Class 172 26 passengers altogether.
13:41 Worcester Foregate Street - Smethwick Galton Bridge. 2 x Class 172/0 (4 coaches). Lead Class 172 had 15 passengers on.
14:32 Smethwick Galton Bridge - Shrewsbury. 2 x Class 158 (4 coaches). Full to social distancing capacity.
15:32 Shrewsbury - Wolverhampton. 2 x Class 158 (4 coaches). Lead unit about 70% full.
16:22 Wolverhampton - Crewe. 2 x Class 350 (8 coaches). 8 people in my coach (last but one). Lead unit full.
17:33 Crewe - Rugeley Trent Valley. 2 x Class 350 (8 coaches). 2 in my coach (very front). Observed at least 50% full when it left Rugeley.
18:19 Rugeley Trent Valley - Birmingham New Street. 1 x Class 350 (4 coaches). 6 boarded at Rugeley, however was around half full by time we reached Birmingham.
19:16 Birmingham New Street - Coventry. 1 x Class 350 (4 coaches). Full to social distanced capacity, a number of passengers alighted at Marston Green, and was around 30% full when departing Coventry.
20:17 Coventry - Nuneaton. 1 x Class 172/2 (2 coaches). 13 alighted at Coventry, 11 boarded. 17 passengers by time we arrived at Nuneaton (gained 1 at Coventry Arena, 0 at Bedworth, 2 at Bermuda Park).

 

[Tracked]

Sunday 30th;

12:19 Doncaster-Sheffield - I was in the back carriage of the 170, the old Scotrail 1st Class, there was only 1 other person in there and it was lightly loaded down the rest of the carriage. Walked through the first two carriages after Meadowhell and they were busy, not every seat taken but very close to it. This one was a usual journey for me on a Bank Holiday Sunday pre-Covid, and it seemed to be as busy as I remember it being then.

12:52 Sheffield-Chesterfield - one other person in my carriage, the 2nd of two 5-Car Meridiens. It looked lightly loaded down the rest of the train too, and not many on Chesterfield Station. Possibly it only going to Luton may have affected loadings, only caught this as the departure time had changed, looked to be a few waiting for the Cross Country on 6, maybe not as many as pre-Covid.

17:20 Chesterfield-Sheffield - 156/158. Only had a quick look, I was at the front end in the 156 and it looked half full in that carriage, I just stood at the door after getting on, quite a few waiting at Platform 7 in Sheffield.

18:11 Sheffield-Doncaster - My carriage was about 1/3 full, two 185's so plenty of space, wasn't too busy on the platform at Sheffield and Meadowhall. Pre-Covid I'd usually be on a later train from Sheffield, usually around 8pm, and it was usually that quiet back then.

 

[yorksrob]

I thought that the last Hallam stopper back from Leeds was going to be dreadfully busy last night, but in the end it was very busy but ok.

 

[Killingworth]

Sunday 30th;

12:19 Doncaster-Sheffield - I was in the back carriage of the 170, the old Scotrail 1st Class, there was only 1 other person in there and it was lightly loaded down the rest of the carriage. Walked through the first two carriages after Meadowhell and they were busy, not every seat taken but very close to it. This one was a usual journey for me on a Bank Holiday Sunday pre-Covid, and it seemed to be as busy as I remember it being then.

12:52 Sheffield-Chesterfield - one other person in my carriage, the 2nd of two 5-Car Meridiens. It looked lightly loaded down the rest of the train too, and not many on Chesterfield Station. Possibly it only going to Luton may have affected loadings, only caught this as the departure time had changed, looked to be a few waiting for the Cross Country on 6, maybe not as many as pre-Covid.

17:20 Chesterfield-Sheffield - 156/158. Only had a quick look, I was at the front end in the 156 and it looked half full in that carriage, I just stood at the door after getting on, quite a few waiting at Platform 7 in Sheffield.

18:11 Sheffield-Doncaster - My carriage was about 1/3 full, two 185's so plenty of space, wasn't too busy on the platform at Sheffield and Meadowhall. Pre-Covid I'd usually be on a later train from Sheffield, usually around 8pm, and it was usually that quiet back then.

An interesting selection of services with loadings illustrating how patchy the recovery is, but also the effect of other factors - not least time of day as well as days of week and Bank Holidays..

The 12.52 EMR Meridien service to London was being terminatrd at Luton so that would certainly have reduced the already light loading I'd have expected on a Sunday at that time of day for a 10 car train

The 4 car 17.20 EMR 156/158 would normally be Norwich-Liverpool but was reduced to Ely-Sheffield due to engineering work and strike action. The Norwich end won't have made a significant difference but the lack of the through connection to Manchester andi Liverpool might.

Northern 2 car 195s to/from Nottingham on that section would have been less spacious so that was a good choice of trains.

The 6 car TPE South Pennine service has been a generous provision in revent times, but was on many services before Covid. Then loadings were increasing and they seem to be very slowly coming back. Yesterday over the Sheffield-Manchester leg they'd be carrying the displaced EMR loads (some Northern stoppers were rammed) but looked to have adequate capacity to soak it up.

 

[deltic]

Piccadilly line central London Saturday evening full and standing, Northern line a lot quieter

 

[bramling]

Piccadilly line central London Saturday evening full and standing, Northern line a lot quieter

London has been quite patchy over the weekend. Some busy Underground trains for sure (not seen anything properly crush loaded, but plenty of trains standing room only). Many lines suffering from cancellations so quite a few extended intervals across the board.

Whole of London generally heaving, lots of people just floating around, and of course cafes pubs and restaurants, as well as parks, generally very busy.

No doubt on Tuesday we’ll be back to ghost trains at 0800!

 

[Scotrail314209]

12:13 Saltcoats to Kilwinning - 70% full in all 3 carriages

12:25 Kilwinning to Ayr - Full to social distancing capacity with a lot of people standing in the first two carriages, unsure about the third carriage.

 

[Kite159]

Some busy trains in Greater Anglia land on Saturday, busiest was an Ipswich service from Peterborough from Ely (3 coach unit).

Saw some busy services yesterday in London (TfL Rail, plus single 710s on the Chingford services, single 357s from Grays towards Fenchurch Street and single 720s on Clacton services]

The Cannon Street - Ramsgate "Networker on Tour" service got busy after Gillingham with seaside goers, plus a HS1 service from Ashford was busy.

On the other hand I had an entire coach to myself on a 5 coach Waterloo - Salisbury service, first stop Basingstoke.

 

[30907]

Saltaire to Bickley and vv Sunday and Monday:
1130 ex SAE was 50%+ seats taken (engineering work)
1203 Leeds-Kings X moderate load in 1st and KGX felt very quiet.
Various TL and SE lightly loaded - a couple almost as busy as the Saltaire train (but Victoria-Bromley S stoppers are not running).
1833 ex KGX 50% full in 1st (seats adjacent to reserved seats marked "available" which surprised me)

 

[NoMorePacers]

What I remember from 2 days of rail journeys (Monday and yesterday):

Monday
05:16 Hull - Sheffield (3 car 170) - 4 passengers from Hull, couple more got on at Goole and Doncaster (then again I'd expect loadings at that time of day to be no different regardless of COVID)
06:44 Sheffield - Nottingham (2 car 158) - rear coach was full the whole way from Sheffield - however due to a fault the front coach had to be locked out so understandable
08:07 Nottingham - Cardiff Central (3 car 170) - was sat right at the back (from Derby) - rear coach was quiet however the guard on the PIS said that the front coach was busy
12:34 Cardiff Queen Street - Coryton (2 car 150) - quiet all the way
12:57 Coryton - Radyr (2 car 150) - quiet until Waun-Gron Park where a gang of kids got on our coach
13:48 Radyr - Barry Island (2 car 150) - busy, full and standing from Cardiff Central
15:03 Barry - Bridgend (2 car 150) - quite quiet
15:44 Bridgend - Maesteg and 16:14 Maesteg - Cardiff Central (2 car 170) - both quiet although I was sat in the ex-first class compartment so couldn't see much
17:53 Cardiff Queen Street - Rhymney and 19:01 Rhymney - Bargoed (769) - quiet all the way
19:45 Bargoed - Caerphilly (2 car 150) - again, was quiet
20:34 Caerphilly - Cardiff Bay (2 car 150) - another quiet train
21:05 Cardiff Bay - Cardiff Queen Street (2 car 150) - on the other hand, this train was busy
21:55 Cardiff Central - Newport (153+150 with locked out 158 on rear) - medium loadings (not too busy but not too quiet)
22:41 Newport - Cardiff Central (166) - seemed quiet to me
23:15 Cardiff Central - Carmarthen (150+153) - me and the person I was travelling with were the only people to get off at Carmarthen

Tuesday
04:50 Carmarthen - Milford Haven and 05:54 Milford Haven - Whitland (3 car 175) - me and my friend were the only people onboard until Haverfordwest on the return journey where 1 other person boarded - I saw another person getting on at Whitland
06:59 Whitland - Pembroke Dock and 09:09 Pembroke Dock - Carmarthen (2 car 150) - quiet on the way up, but on the way back got progressively busy between Pembroke Dock and Tenby, then again between Tenby and Carmarthen
11:00 Carmarthen - Crewe (2 car 175) - busy all the way, full and standing in parts of the journey)
15:47 Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly (319) - left Crewe quiet but progressively picked up passengers so by the time the train was pulling into Manchester most seat bays were taken
17:42 Manchester Piccadilly - Sheffield (4 car 158) - the front coach (that I was in) was rather quiet although I suspect towards the back of the train it was busy
18:57 Sheffield - Hull (3 car 170) - reasonable occupancy count the whole way

 

[Mogz]

On a 4 coach Chiltern Train from London to Birmingham packed and standing.

No social distancing possible while carriages lie idle at Wembley depot.

Come on, Chiltern. Sort it out!

 

[WestRiding]

On a 4 coach Chiltern Train from London to Birmingham packed and standing.

No social distancing possible while carriages lie idle at Wembley depot.

Come on, Chiltern. Sort it out!

Good to see people coming back to the railway. Out of interest, what do you want Chiltern to do? Are the units at Wembley actually spare?

 

[Watershed]

Are you sure that the carriages "idle" at Wembley could actually have been put into service?

 

[The Planner]

I get the impression from their Twitter that they have got problems this evening with services.

 

[Horizon22]

Crowding has been back for a few weeks now. This is not always true crowding as there's still scepticism about sitting next to strangers, but sometimes yes specific services have been the traditional "full and standing". Ultimately it's a good thing for the railway that people are coming back, although obviously don't want to intentionally make people uncomfortable.

 

[Parallel]

GWR has been very well loaded on the Bristol area services. Yesterday the 17:00 from Bristol to Paddington was 5 coaches and was heaving leaving Bath. Distancing wasn’t possible. I boarded a local train to Warminster yesterday from Bath and wasn’t able to get a seat, every seat pair was taken with three people sitting in the bays of 6!

Trains to beaches, tourist spots and cities will probably be even busier this summer due to people staying in the UK for their holidays. I hope the TOCs are preparing for that!

 

[Flyingsprinter]

On Northern the 195s still have 1/3 of each carriage block out at the ends near the cabs. Apparently so the guard can carry out their duties safely which makes zero sense as they don’t use this area at all. This has meant on 2 carriage northern services 2/3 of a carriage has been blocked off. It is really poor and leads to major overcrowding issues.
But the TOCs don’t deal with the aftermath of overcrowding, the NHS does, so to them it doesn’t matter.

 

[philosopher]

On a 4 coach Chiltern Train from London to Birmingham packed and standing.

No social distancing possible while carriages lie idle at Wembley depot.

Come on, Chiltern. Sort it out!

Their twitter page does say the 1915 from London to Birmingham was cancelled. The 1915 train usually has six or seven carriage and is normally a very busy train as it the first off-peak train. So if that one is cancelled it is going to make the subsequent train very busy indeed.