How busy have your trains been?

[deltic]

A couple of weeks ago - travelled Bristol TM to Weston Super Mare mid-afternoon and return early afternoon - busy in both direction - standing when 3-car unit

London To Bristol TM and back a few times - not very full - possibly 20% travelling out early afternoon and back early evening

Today Kings Cross to Cambridge mid morning - virtually every seat taken - Cambridge was the busiest place I have seen since Covid - place heaving with people on a day out - quite a few hen parties to be seen - coming back late afternoon perhaps about 200 people on board.

Victoria line a few Saturdays ago around lunchtime - absolutely rammed - couldnt get on first train.

Other tube lines I have been on over the last few weeks at various times have been busier but still a lot less so than pre-covid

 

[LowLevel]

The Derby - Crewe line would have been a disaster in the old days of the 153s today. As it was with a 2 hourly service it was heavy going - 0908 ex Crewe had at least 160 on board by the time it left Tutbury and the 0716 down working off Nottingham was over 120 people by the time it reached Stoke at just gone 0830 on a Saturday morning.

 

[bramling]

It's amazing how many people don't seem to realise that, if a train is busy, you might have a better journey by waiting half an hour for the next one which could be quieter. You don't have to get on the first train that come!

The problem with that is the “might” part. The next service could quite easily be even busier, or some kind of incident could happen and the following train never turn up (I got badly caught by the latter on GTR some time in the last year or so!).

A train here now is worth a thousand trains which might not come, especially to those who aren’t as familiar with things as some of us.

 

[greyman42]

Yesterday (15/08) the LNER 1618 Newcastle- Kings Cross was full and standing with very little mask wearing. Good to see.

 

[EssexGonzo]

My son is reporting that the evening peak GA services from Stratford towards Southend/Ipswich are extremely full. Standing is a challenge on many services. With some fairly hefty gaps between available services too.

 

[alex397]

Peak time departures on the High Speed from St Pancras are certainly not crammed and standing only like I often remember them pre-Covid.
I returned from a day trip in London recently, completely forgetting that in pre-Covid times I’d be worrying about getting a seat.
They are certainly busier than they have been for a while, but nothing like they used to be. Well, from the handful of departures I’ve been on recently.

 

[Bikeman78]

My son is reporting that the evening peak GA services from Stratford towards Southend/Ipswich are extremely full. Standing is a challenge on many services. With some fairly hefty gaps between available services too.

Maybe they shouldn't have been so scrap happy with the class 321s. The service is supposed to increase in September. They'll need a lot of class 720s to achieve that. On West Anglia the three Cambridge peak trains are supposed to return in September. The class 379s are struggling to cover the existing 25 diagrams so they'll need some 720s or else bring the 317/7 back to service again.

 

[james60059]

FRIDAY 13th AUGUST 2021.

Did a spotting day at Peterborough, first time I've done a day at one location spotting in many years (I normally drive to various locations in my car).

09:51 Nuneaton - Peterborough (170621), 60% seats taken in rear coach.
17:54 Peterborough - Nuneaton (170618), quite a lot bailed at Peterborough, but on departure, rear coach again was about half full.

Of note, the car park at Nuneaton was relatively empty in the morning, which pre-covid, would be full by 8:30am.

I also observed loadings on LNER services, and they seemed very well loaded, even a couple were full and standing although these were 5-car Azuma's.

I did also notice a rough 50:50 ratio of mask wearers/non mask wearers.

 

[87015]

Maybe they shouldn't have been so scrap happy with the class 321s. The service is supposed to increase in September. They'll need a lot of class 720s to achieve that. On West Anglia the three Cambridge peak trains are supposed to return in September. The class 379s are struggling to cover the existing 25 diagrams so they'll need some 720s or else bring the 317/7 back to service again.

720s from Monday

 

[bramling]

A trip to London and back yesterday on GTR.

Up train at Lunchtime (Cambridge-KX) I’d say loading was akin to pre-Covid, which in this case is fairly light. We did see a Brighton-Cambridge train which was pretty busy compared with normal times.

Down train was mired in a string of cancellations, we took 2109 out of King’s Cross, which was pretty empty towards the front, just two in my carriage, which I think is extremely light compared to pre-Covid (though loading on these services was always a bit variable). Quite a few alighting further back towards the London end of the train when we got off though.

Also observed a late evening Cambridge to KX stopping service which again was comparatively busy given the time of day.

One observation however, in all cases the clientele was rather drossy, and I’d wager that a good proportion travelling yesterday were teenagers probably on child tickets in the majority. I can see why the revenue just isn’t being pulled in. No ticket checks either, though all stations seemed to be doing relatively thorough barrier checks.

 

[D6130]

For several weeks now, off-peak services on the Calderdale lines have been pretty busy....more or less back to normal I would say. I don't very often see the morning peak services but - judging by the number of cars in the station car park at Hebden Bridge - I would estimate that loadings are probably up to about 75% of pre-Covid levels.

 

[PHILIPE]

An example of many which are posted in Journey Check referring to TFW services day in day out especially along the North Wales Coast and the Marches:-

1141 Llandudno to Manchester Airport due 14:19 has been delayed at Chester and is now 12 minutes late.
This is due to overcrowding.
Service full and standing from Chester.

 

[Bikeman78]

An example of many which are posted in Journey Check referring to TFW services day in day out especially along the North Wales Coast and the Marches:-

Plenty of four car trains today looking at RTT. Pairs of 150s, 158s and 175s.

 

[trainophile]

Bridlington to Hull on Northern today 0913 half empty. Hull to Man Picc 1008 on TPE full and a few standing. Man Picc to Hereford TfW 1231 full and crush loaded in the vestibules, could hardly get out at Hereford and people were fighting through to get to the toilets. It was a 3-car too. Won't make the mistake of travelling on a summer Friday again. Funnily enough there were hardly any, if any at all, children on it so I can't blame the school holidays.

 

[Jamesrob637]

The 17:24 Piccadilly to Buxton is about half-full today however the 17:08 fast Buxton isn't running until the end of the month so may not be the fairest comparison.

 

[yorksrob]

The 17:24 Piccadilly to Buxton is about half-full today however the 17:08 fast Buxton isn't running until the end of the month so may not be the fairest comparison.

The mid morning to Buxton was busier since I've seen it with the pandemic today (so were the pubs).

 

[Jamesrob637]

The mid morning to Buxton was busier since I've seen it with the pandemic today (so were the pubs).

Which time was that?

 

[deltic]

Cancelled trains meant the 10.15 Penzance to Paddington was full and standing today

 

[Sm5]

I’m finding Thameslink is quite empty from London Bridge in rush hours.
it used to be an issue just getting onboard, let alone standing, and ive known services where the driver reported the trains being overloaded and delayed for safety reasons in the past… choose your own seat still last week.

 

[yorksrob]

Which time was that?

I think I caught it at 11:18 at Stockport.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Various local trains to St Michaels and Hall Road - getting a late evening service back from the former - very decent loadings with minor standing on the Southport trains.

1347 Lime St to Euston very busy indeed.

 

[trainophile]

Bridlington to Hull on Northern today 0913 half empty. Hull to Man Picc 1008 on TPE full and a few standing. Man Picc to Hereford TfW 1231 full and crush loaded in the vestibules, could hardly get out at Hereford and people were fighting through to get to the toilets. It was a 3-car too. Won't make the mistake of travelling on a summer Friday again. Funnily enough there were hardly any, if any at all, children on it so I can't blame the school holidays.

After my experience today ^ I have just blown £42 on a change of plan for next Friday, having previously forgotten that we're travelling back from Scotland and would have been changing at Crewe onto a TfW to Hereford. Being the Friday of bank holiday weekend it will be hell from Crewe, worse than it was today, so we're having a night in Southport instead (free) and have bought tickets from Wigan to Southport (we're hoping there's no issue with bailing at Wigan North Western when our Advance tickets are for Crewe - it's a genuine reason), and on Saturday morning going into Picc so we can get on at the start to get back to Hereford. Feels like burning £10 notes but we can't face the inevitable scrum and possibly standing all the way.

I wonder if TfW will ever reintroduce seat reservations. If nothing else, it would highlight how they don't have enough seats!

 

[Jamesrob637]

I think I caught it at 11:18 at Stockport.

Ah that's the 11:08 from Manchester. There's no 24 past at that hour anyway.

 

[yorksrob]

Ah that's the 11:08 from Manchester. There's no 24 past at that hour anyway.

Reassuringly busy though !

 

[trainophile]

Reassuringly busy though !

What's reassuring about the prospect of having to stand for your entire journey? I don't know why they keep on about encouraging people back onto the railways, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of demand nowadays.

 

[yorksrob]

What's reassuring about the prospect of having to stand for your entire journey? I don't know why they keep on about encouraging people back onto the railways, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of demand nowadays.

There was no need for anyone to stand. It was a mid morning loading which was quite good, but not a commuter crush.

 

[trainophile]

There was no need for anyone to stand. It was a mid morning loading which was quite good, but not a commuter crush.

Sorry, I was talking generally, but with very recent experience of overcrowding.

 

[yorksrob]

Sorry, I was talking generally, but with very recent experience of overcrowding.

I've not seen that line that busy, however I'm not a regular traveller on it.

 

[bramling]

What's reassuring about the prospect of having to stand for your entire journey? I don't know why they keep on about encouraging people back onto the railways, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of demand nowadays.

The whole thing is a bit of a mess. We have Thameslink trains sitting in sidings or taking partial loads to London, yet on the other hand we have short trains piled full of day trippers on (comparatively) low-value fares, quite a few of which will no doubt be child fares. Some of this demand will dampen down in September.

Filling up trains with families heading to the beach or park isn’t really sustainable in the medium term, and that’s before the current plethora of cancellations, though that should ease a bit come September as there’s less pressure on annual leave.

 

[Kite159]

Some busy trains between Swindon & Cheltenham Spa today, made worse with some cancellations.

A 2 coach 165 on a Southampton service from Gloucester (via Swindon) was a bit cosy after Kemble