BazingaTribe
Member
I commuted to work for almost ten years (Feb 2014 to October 2023) and I was just musing about the way things have changed since the pandemic.
One thing that sticks out with the train service itself is that my commuter train (Basingstoke to Reading) regularly gets to the station 10-20 minutes early and sits there. Not going to lie, this is more pleasant than waiting rooms or drafty platforms, and it was I think a product of only one service in each direction per hour until well into 2021, but it's a luxury that hasn't gone away since, after they restored the half hourly service and even now when UK lockdown is a distant memory.
Another is that before the pandemic, people sat directly opposite each other more often on seats facing each other. Although it meant a tangle of legs, both window seats would be taken. During the pandemic restrictions, this was discouraged and so one person would sit at the window seat while the other person would sit opposite on the aisle seat. It's easier to dovetail people together so it's not a huge issue (although I'm much more comfortable at the window seat and as uncomfortable as the Princess who had a pea in her bed on an aisle seat) but it seems to be a product of the way people sat during restrictions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! Trains are often either warmer or cooler even than waiting rooms at stations and you can get settled earlier. Dovetailing is annoying when someone already has the window seat, but it's no skin off my nose.
But I just wondered if others who commute by rail or travel a lot had noticed subtle procedural oddities since 2020 and what these were.
One thing that sticks out with the train service itself is that my commuter train (Basingstoke to Reading) regularly gets to the station 10-20 minutes early and sits there. Not going to lie, this is more pleasant than waiting rooms or drafty platforms, and it was I think a product of only one service in each direction per hour until well into 2021, but it's a luxury that hasn't gone away since, after they restored the half hourly service and even now when UK lockdown is a distant memory.
Another is that before the pandemic, people sat directly opposite each other more often on seats facing each other. Although it meant a tangle of legs, both window seats would be taken. During the pandemic restrictions, this was discouraged and so one person would sit at the window seat while the other person would sit opposite on the aisle seat. It's easier to dovetail people together so it's not a huge issue (although I'm much more comfortable at the window seat and as uncomfortable as the Princess who had a pea in her bed on an aisle seat) but it seems to be a product of the way people sat during restrictions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! Trains are often either warmer or cooler even than waiting rooms at stations and you can get settled earlier. Dovetailing is annoying when someone already has the window seat, but it's no skin off my nose.
But I just wondered if others who commute by rail or travel a lot had noticed subtle procedural oddities since 2020 and what these were.
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