How busy have your trains been?

[Peter Mugridge]

It's two days after lockdown is due to end so it might be pent up demand.

Isn't it also in the "student travel window" that has been announced today? There's quite a few universities along the East Coast Main Line...

 

[bramling]

I did a London and back on GTR today. 700/1 both ways. Train up (midday) was dead, barely ones and twos per carriage. Journey back (evening) even deader, probably barely single figures on the whole train. No revenue, no mask enforcement, no seats taped off, no threatening announcements, all refreshingly normal. London Bridge HL was quiet, but not the complete emptiness of March.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

My daughter went to work SAC - Blackfriars yesterday morning at 0710 - less than 25% loading , and even less coming back at 1800. She goes in 2 days a week now only. Rest from home.

(Still , better than 1st lockdown I suppose)

 

[Hadders]

I did a London and back on GTR today. 700/1 both ways. Train up (midday) was dead, barely ones and twos per carriage. Journey back (evening) even deader, probably barely single figures on the whole train. No revenue, no mask enforcement, no seats taped off, no threatening announcements, all refreshingly normal. London Bridge HL was quiet, but not the complete emptiness of March.

I've been in London yesterday and today. Yesterday morning the 09:32 from Stevenage to Finsbury Park was lightly loaded, even though it was the first off peak train.
The 10:08 from Finsbury Park to Moorgate was quite heavily loaded as far as Highbury & Islington with someone sat at almost every double seat.

Today the 09:47 from Stevenage to St Pancras was very quiet, normally at this time of year it would be very busy.
The 18:01 from St Pancras to Stevenage had fewer then 50 passengers on board.

I agree about London Bridge being relatively busy today. Walked through Hayes Galleria around 17:00 - lots of people sat on the floor socialising in small groups simply because they had nowhere else to go. Costa was doing a roaring trade in take aways.

 

[scotrail158713]

I travelled into Edinburgh today from Prestonpans and both journeys were extremely quiet. I particularly noticed it on the way back as I would normally expect a Saturday lunchtime service in the run up to Christmas to have a decent loading. By comparison there was one other person in the whole carriage I was in today.

 

[yorksrob]

I've been in London yesterday and today. Yesterday morning the 09:32 from Stevenage to Finsbury Park was lightly loaded, even though it was the first off peak train.
The 10:08 from Finsbury Park to Moorgate was quite heavily loaded as far as Highbury & Islington with someone sat at almost every double seat.

Today the 09:47 from Stevenage to St Pancras was very quiet, normally at this time of year it would be very busy.
The 18:01 from St Pancras to Stevenage had fewer then 50 passengers on board.

I agree about London Bridge being relatively busy today. Walked through Hayes Galleria around 17:00 - lots of people sat on the floor socialising in small groups simply because they had nowhere else to go. Costa was doing a roaring trade in take aways.

I've noticed that the single open outlets on big stations seem to be doing a roaring trade. Costa at Sheffield being a good example.

 

[317 forever]

I caught the 6.19am train from Stockport to London Euston yesterday. I was in the quiet coach, which was quiet in more ways than 1 as I was the only passenger there! I walked down the train shortly before Euston to save time there. I was curious to count the passengers, and there were 14 on board.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

I caught the 6.19am train from Stockport to London Euston yesterday. I was in the quiet coach, which was quiet in more ways than 1 as I was the only passenger there! I walked down the train shortly before Euston to save time there. I was curious to count the passengers, and there were 14 on board.

Doesn't surprise me, early morning Pendolino's are completely dead, I'm almost always the only person in my carriage.

They are a bit busier in the evening.

 

[Jamesrob637]

06:19 is early especially for a Saturday. I see it calls at Lichfield and Tamworth too. Maybe it picked up a few more there.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

06:19 is early especially for a Saturday. I see it calls at Lichfield and Tamworth too. Maybe it picked up a few more there.

I commute to Milton Keynes Monday to Friday and Pendolinos out of Euston around 8:00 are all completely dead. I'm almost always the only person in the carriage. There are probably about 25 people max on each service.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

My son reported that today his trains to and from school were almost back to how they were loading before all this virus nonsense hit the planet. Definitely much busier than for the past few months.

 

[trainophile]

My son reported that today his trains to and from school were almost back to how they were loading before all this virus nonsense hit the planet. Definitely much busier than for the past few months.

Off peak certainly don’t seem very busy today, but the weather is awful so unless already committed I don’t suppose many people are bothering to go anywhere.

 

[greyman42]

I did a York to Cheltenham return yesterday and near enough had a coach to myself both ways. On the return leg it seemed strange arriving at Sheffield at 1630 to an empty platform.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Off peak certainly don’t seem very busy today, but the weather is awful so unless already committed I don’t suppose many people are bothering to go anywhere.

I had a day off today and went to the Westfield megacentre at Shepherd's Bush to do some Xmas shopping; the weather did seem to be a deterrent elsewhere but from Clapham Junction it was certainly busier; not the usual completely rammed of course but the 378 was every seat taken and a number standing; the centre itself was busy but not Xmas busy I'd rate it as roughly equal to a normal non-Xmas weekday in both instances.

 

[ScotGG]

SE Metro pretty busy on recent trips

 

[S&CLER]

My 0859 train from Southport to Central was about a quarter full today. After an hour's break in Liverpool I caught the 1105 from Lime Street to New Street, a 2x 4 car formation, about a quarter full in the rear carriage in which I was sitting (i.e. not the part of the train that served the stations with short platforms). After meeting @Calthrop, of this parish, at New Street and delivering a book to him, I returned on the 1404 and had the front car of 8 all to myself as far as Hartford, where 5 people boarded. The 1540 from South Parkway to Central and connecting train for Southport, both 6-car formations, were both busy.

 

[trainophile]

The 1025 Avanti Wigan to Carlisle today was busier than usual, but it is a Saturday and there were signs that quite a few students were on the move. As the seat reservations weren't working and there was someone in my coach F seat I walked right through looking for a forward facing seat on the left hand side (out of the glare of the sun), and finally got lucky in coach A, which only had three people in it.

Coming back on the 1408 I had a reservation in A, and there were only two other people in it.

Trains between Southport and Wigan continue to be very lightly loaded, and they are all 4-coaches which spreads the loading even more than when they used to occasionally be 2-coaches.

 

[Killingworth]

To Manchester Piccadilly by 5.15 TPE South Pennine from Dore on Friday. 3 of us boarded, the other 2 apparently regulars. Coach to myself, at best 12 aboard. Return to Sheffield I shared coach with one cyclist, not many others in the 6 coaches. Sheffield wasn't deserted but for a peak hour was very quiet, as was Piccadilly.

 

[MrTurbostar170]

Was at Stratford from about 4-5pm yesterday waiting for the Class 720, every tfl rail service to Shenfield was full and standing. Victoria also wasn't that bad either when I got back there later, my train to Canterbury was dead however.

 

[geoffk]

Rochdale to Littleborough this afternoon, a scattering of passengers on three coaches, but a fair few alighted at Rochdale. I should have done a count.

 

[infobleep]

I was on three trains this morning.

09:28 Haywards Heath to Three Bridges.
It wasn't really busy but I felt there was more people towards the back of the train. I initalky got on about 2/3s down.

However, despite it being a little busier towards the back, the declassified first class compartment was empty, save myself.

Now on the next train got from Three Bridges. The 09:43, it was more deserted T the back but their was one other in the declassified first class section and at Horley a couple got into the section.

What that proves is that not everyone travelling on a Saturday is aware the back section is declassified but clearly some where or they just ignored the first class signs regardless it also highlights the over specification of first class. At least standard class wasn't busy to the extent people were squashed together

Finally I boarded the 10:14 just gone 10:00, no idea how busy it was given I boarded so early. It would probably be slightly busier, had it stated from Gatwick Airport but if it did that I'd probably have got the 09:42 from Haywards Heath instead.

 

[birchesgreen]

Moor St to Leamington Spa yesterday, fairly quiet.

 

[Hadders]

Yesterday (Saturday) I caught the 09:47 from Stevenage to St Pancras and returned on the 19:31, quiet both ways. The 16:01 from Barnes Bridge to Waterloo was very busy with most seats taken.

 

[alansheppard77]

I thought it would be worth creating a thread where people can say how busy their trains have been.

If anyone wants to write a lengthy trip report, this would be best in a dedicated thread, but this thread can be used for observations.

I'll start with the 1002 York to Kings Cross this morning; I counted 133 in standard on the final stretch between Stevenage and London. On arrival at KGX, I'd estimate about 24 alighted from first class, which surprised me.

Of course this train has capacity for over 600 people, so the loading is still light. On a normal summer weekday you would expect the train to have at least four times as many passengers as I counted.

Not everyone who used this train was on for the final stretch of course; many people alighted at stations such as Doncaster.

I think it's a reasonable loading under th circumstances, but clearly there is a long way to go ( if anyone had any ideas regarding how TOCs can increase patronage please see: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...tice-passengers-back-onto-the-railway.207153/ )

Travelled on various Transpennine trains yesterday and most were almost empty despite the TPE website saying trains full and standing

 

[yorkie]

I travelled on some very empty XC trains lately. No sign of any ticket check either.

On the plus side, it's been a while since I saw an XC guard telling people to move and having a go at people not wearing face coverings. There are some particularly nasty Guards about, so either I've been lucky in not seeing them, or they've been told to wind their necks in. The announcements seem to have got less threatening too.

The Northern trains I have travelled on have generally been much busier than the XC trains, but still relatively quiet.

I've not been on TPE or LNER for a while, but will be travelling on LNER next weekend so will be interesting to see if their trains are similarly empty or not.

It is depressing seeing roads so busy with cars, but trains so empty.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Travelled on various Transpennine trains yesterday and most were almost empty despite the TPE website saying trains full and standing

That and TPE journey check are annoying. The trains aren't that busy. Why start/restart doing it now? Coincidentally the first day of it was last Wednesday. Just as the national lockdown ended. Hmm.

I travelled on some very empty XC trains lately. No sign of any ticket check either.

On the plus side, it's been a while since I saw an XC guard telling people to move and having a go at people not wearing face coverings. There are some particularly nasty Guards about, so either I've been lucky in not seeing them, or they've been told to wind their necks in. The announcements seem to have got less threatening too.

The Northern trains I have travelled on have generally been much busier than the XC trains, but still relatively quiet.

I've not been on TPE or LNER for a while, but will be travelling on LNER next weekend so will be interesting to see if their trains are similarly empty or not.

It is depressing seeing roads so busy with cars, but trains so empty.

Peak traffic is still well down on normal where I live. On Wednesday I drove round some of the M60 around midday and stuck in the fast lane (although I still was only doing between 30 and 50 at that point) to avoid the Trafford Centre junctions and the inevitable last-minute lane-changers. Once over the Barton Bridge things quietened down considerably though a HGV almost sideswiped me. Entertainment of the day!

 

[Philip]

Yesterday I went to West Byfleet from Manchester. The early evening train from West Byfleet to London Waterloo was busy - and at 12 coaches long! The tube I boarded at Oxford Circus on the Vic line was chocca as it pulled in. What's more, the 19:20 London Euston to Manchester was fairly busy, about 3/4 full at a rough glance - and many stayed on beyond Milton Keynes.

Is this surprising going off the current trends?

 

[Mag_seven]

Definitely more people out and about on a number of GWR IETs that I saw today. I suspect tomorrow mornings "peak" will be as dead as ever though.

 

[bramling]

Yesterday I went to West Byfleet from Manchester. The early evening train from West Byfleet to London Waterloo was busy - and at 12 coaches long! The tube I boarded at Oxford Circus on the Vic line was chocca as it pulled in. What's more, the 19:20 London Euston to Manchester was fairly busy, about 3/4 full at a rough glance - and many stayed on beyond Milton Keynes.

Is this surprising going off the current trends?

London was moderately busy in places yesterday, and the evening trains felt like a youth club in places. My place had a mass brawl which might as well as been a Covid spread-fest once the BTP got involved!

 

[infobleep]

They were checking ticketa on the Great Western Railway service I got on Saturday but no RPIs on the two Thamelink trains.