Travelling by train - restrictions due to Covid

[piccadilly]

I have received extremely valuable advice on this forum in the past.

I live in Devon and prior to lockdown I used to visit my mother in Warrington who is her 90’s ,lives alone and is disabled,on a regular basis travelling by train.

My route is Honiton– Exeter – Birmingham New Street – Warrington Bank Quay. I usually buy my ticket on the day ,off peak ,on an open return basis - return within one month.

I could drive ,but I find this now to be quite stressful - I much prefer to travel by train then hire a car in Warrington to get myself and my mother out and about.Next week I may attempt the train journey.

However ,as I understand the current guidelines ,I am now required to wear a mask on public transport which is no problem and passengers are required to sit two seats apart? From previous experience in normal times the trains are usually quite full ,no matter which day I travel - sometimes I can hardly find a seat.

Has anybody got an opinion from their own experience as to whether is it realistic ,or practical ,to attempt to travel by train under these circumstances? - I understand passenger numbers will be down ,but perhaps there are fewer trains?

I may have to tackle the 240 mile journey by car.

Kind Regards

 

[Fokx]

Trains are running at low capacity but numbers of passengers remain significantly low so there would likely to be adequate seating for you to travel. From my own observations longer distance journeys generally carry less passengers than local stopping services as few people are traveling long distances for leisure compared to this time last year.

However, Government advice still remains at the moment that you should only use public transport if all other options have been considered first, so really if you do have a car available to use, you should ideally use that to travel, allowing for those who don’t drive to travel on the same trains, and if you do decide to travel by public transport, to do so at off-peak times.

 

[221129]

Has anybody got an opinion from their own experience as to whether is it realistic ,or practical ,to attempt to travel by train under these circumstances? - I understand passenger numbers will be down ,but perhaps there are fewer trains?

Make a reservation for the Exeter to Birmingham and Birmingham to Warrington parts of the journey and you'll be fine. Whilst there are less trains, passenger numbers are so few on that route and the trains that are running are mostly running with higher capacity.

 

[Hadders]

You will be fine travelling by train, and there is no restriction on travelling. You will need a seat reservation for the train between Exeter and Birmingham and between Birmingham and Warrington. I would purchase your ticket a few days ahead of travel at your local station who will be able to sort the reservations for you.

Other than having to wear a face covering travelling by train is a pleasurable experience at the moment due to the very low number of passengers travelling so enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[30907]

As XC are compulsory reservation and with only a proportion of their seats available, their trains are reportedly sometimes fully booked on some sectors. Hence the advice from Hadders about reservations.
Avanti are also compulsory reservation but don't seem to have the same issue.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

As XC are compulsory reservation and with only a proportion of their seats available, their trains are reportedly sometimes fully booked on some sectors. Hence the advice from Hadders about reservations.
Avanti are also compulsory reservation but don't seem to have the same issue.

Neither Avanti nor XC are reservation compulsory. Both recommend them and state that boarding may be denied if you don't have a reservation, but I have yet to hear of this occurring.

That's not to say you shouldn't bother to get a reservation if are able to get one, but you needn't be needlessly worried if you catch a different train to the one you reserved yourself a seat on.

 

[Haywain]

Neither Avanti nor XC are reservation compulsory. Both recommend them and state that boarding may be denied if you don't have a reservation, but I have yet to hear of this occurring.

That's not to say you shouldn't bother to get a reservation if are able to get one, but you needn't be needlessly worried if you catch a different train to the one you reserved yourself a seat on.

XC are not reservation compulsory across the board, but their long-distance services are.

 

[miami]

XC are not reservation compulsory across the board, but their long-distance services are.

Aren't all XC services long distance?

 

[Ianno87]

You will be fine travelling by train, and there is no restriction on travelling. You will need a seat reservation for the train between Exeter and Birmingham and between Birmingham and Warrington. I would purchase your ticket a few days ahead of travel at your local station who will be able to sort the reservations for you.

Other than having to wear a face covering travelling by train is a pleasurable experience at the moment due to the very low number of passengers travelling so enjoy it while it lasts.

Greater Anglia and Thameslink have noticeably softened their Twitter messaging as of this morning; e.g. the "Can you travel another way?" banners have gone.

 

[221129]

Greater Anglia and Thameslink have noticeably softened their Twitter messaging as of this morning; e.g. the "Can you travel another way?" banners have gone.

As should every TOC. The new messaging campaign starts today.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

XC are not reservation compulsory across the board, but their long-distance services are.

They are only reservation compulsory in the timetable data feed, not in reality. Even that is just XC's cack-handed attempt to force tickets sold online to be issued with a reservation, which results in innumerable side-effects.

And I have certainly seen the Turbostar services being purportedly reservation compulsory according to the data recently.

There is no need to scare the OP; neither XC nor GWR are reservation compulsory. Both recommend it, and I would encourage getting a reservation if you can. But don't worry if you can't catch your reserved train.

 

[Haywain]

There is no need to scare the OP; neither XC nor GWR are reservation compulsory. Both recommend it, and I would encourage getting a reservation if you can.

If you would recommend getting a reservation, what is the point in making such a big deal of not needing one? Your words, quoted below, are hardly a recommendation to do so.

That's not to say you shouldn't bother to get a reservation if are able to get one

 

[Starmill]

Aren't all XC services long distance?

Depends on how one looks at it. A Birmingham to Leicester stopping service is unlikely to be 'long-distance' by anyone's measures though. Despite its use of the same rolling stock, Birmingham to Cardiff probably is considered so by most people, although it doesn't compare with, say, Bristol to Newcastle, where there is quite different rolling stock in use.

 

[221129]

There is no need to scare the OP; neither XC nor GWR are reservation compulsory

I wouldnt count on that remaining the case...

 

[WesternLancer]

I have received extremely valuable advice on this forum in the past.

I live in Devon and prior to lockdown I used to visit my mother in Warrington who is her 90’s ,lives alone and is disabled,on a regular basis travelling by train.

My route is Honiton– Exeter – Birmingham New Street – Warrington Bank Quay. I usually buy my ticket on the day ,off peak ,on an open return basis - return within one month.

I could drive ,but I find this now to be quite stressful - I much prefer to travel by train then hire a car in Warrington to get myself and my mother out and about.Next week I may attempt the train journey.

However ,as I understand the current guidelines ,I am now required to wear a mask on public transport which is no problem and passengers are required to sit two seats apart? From previous experience in normal times the trains are usually quite full ,no matter which day I travel - sometimes I can hardly find a seat.

Has anybody got an opinion from their own experience as to whether is it realistic ,or practical ,to attempt to travel by train under these circumstances? - I understand passenger numbers will be down ,but perhaps there are fewer trains?

I may have to tackle the 240 mile journey by car.

Kind Regards

I think it is reasonable to make a long distance journey of this sort by train to visit and no doubt help an elderly and vulnerable relative, even before the 'softening' of guidelines I think this would have been the case. It will help to have a reservation, but I'd not feel bound by it.

 

[Mugby]

I travelled on the 1611 XC service from Leeds to Derby today and the TM announced four times (after leaving Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield and Chesterfield) that "Reservations are now compulsory on XC services" It's the first time I've heard this, having travelled on several services recently and it's not specifically stated on their website.

Was the TM exceeding his authority is making such a statement and how is it policed when no ticket checks are made?

Most, if not all of the above seat displays are showing messages about social distancing and wearing masks.

 

[piccadilly]

Thank you for your replies.

I am hoping to travel next Tuesday or Wednesday but the price varies enormously depending on the off peak train for example on the trainline the 10.45 (my ideal time) is sold out ,then the next trains vary at around the £250 to £350 mark until 14.45 when the fare drops to £95.I am surprised at such variation.

Is there another website I should try to book the ticket - presumably I could store it on my iphone but print a PDF just in case.

 

[Haywain]

as the TM exceeding his authority is making such a statement

Why would anannouncement informing passengers of the company's policy be 'exceeding his authority'?

I am hoping to travel next Tuesday or Wednesday but the price varies enormously depending on the off peak train for example on the trainline the 10.45 (my ideal time) is sold out ,then the next trains vary at around the £250 to £350 mark until 14.45 when the fare drops to £95.I am surprised at such variation.

Is there another website I should try to book the ticket - presumably I could store it on my iphone but print a PDF just in case.

For the time you wish to travel you should pay no more than £150.30, the price of an Off-Peak Return routed 'Not via London'. However, the problems you are having probably revolve around the compulsory reservation requirement (and place availability) that some here insist does not exist and which is in place to enable social distancing to be, at least partly, controlled. You could try another website but there is no certainty that better results will be obtained.

 

[Mugby]

Why would anannouncement informing passengers of the company's policy be 'exceeding his authority'?

Are you telling me that compulsory reservations are now a Cross Country officially stated requirement?

 

[Haywain]

Are you telling me that compulsory reservations are now a Cross Country officially stated requirement?

On many of their trains reservations are currently mandatory.

 

[Hadders]

CrossCountry's website says:

Welcome to CrossCountry

We cross more of the country than any other train company. We can provide cheap train tickets for any train journey, on any train, in Great Britain, with big savings with Advance tickets – and no booking fee! Booking online or on your mobile is quick and easy at crosscountrytrains.co.uk

www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk

To ensure you and others are safe on your journey, we advise that you book in advance and reserve a place on a specific train.  We now only have a limited number of spaces available per train, and when buying a ticket to travel with CrossCountry, you will not receive a specific seat reservation, but rest assured, you will have a reserved place on your selected train. As you make your way through the booking process, you will see “Reserved – no seat allocated”, which confirms that you have booked a space on your selected train.

Social distancing - Please keep your distance from our colleagues and other customers, if you have an allocated seat, please use it. If you don’t have an allocated seat, please sit in any available seat. If there is no space available, disembark and wait for the next service.

Reserving a place - We advise all our customers to book before you travel and reserve a place on the train to help us maintain social distancing on-board.

Full services – If there is no available space on the train when it arrives, you must disembark and wait for the next service to arrive. If this is the last service of the day, please contact us and we will be able to arrange alternative transport.

Clearly CrossCountry want everyone to have a reservation to travel, and although this technically isn't compulsory, it is highly desirable and they are making trains 'reservation compulsory' in booking systems to try and achieve this.

In the context of the OP then I would advise purchasing tickets and making seat reservations as soon as possible once travel arrangements are known. This can be done online although there is nothing to stop it being done at a local station if this is easier.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I travelled on the 1611 XC service from Leeds to Derby today and the TM announced four times (after leaving Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield and Chesterfield) that "Reservations are now compulsory on XC services" It's the first time I've heard this, having travelled on several services recently and it's not specifically stated on their website.

Was the TM exceeding his authority is making such a statement and how is it policed when no ticket checks are made?

Most, if not all of the above seat displays are showing messages about social distancing and wearing masks.

I doubt that XC will take issue with their staff discouraging people from travelling by making misleading announcements about the company's policies. Compulsory reservations are already barely enforced on LNER, and on XC there are no compulsory reservations, as shown by the lack of any such statement in any official capacity from XC.

Thank you for your replies.

I am hoping to travel next Tuesday or Wednesday but the price varies enormously depending on the off peak train for example on the trainline the 10.45 (my ideal time) is sold out ,then the next trains vary at around the £250 to £350 mark until 14.45 when the fare drops to £95.I am surprised at such variation.

Is there another website I should try to book the ticket - presumably I could store it on my iphone but print a PDF just in case.

The higher prices you are seeing will no doubt be because CrossCountry thought it would be a good idea to make almost all their services show as reservation compulsory in the data, and then severely limit the number of reservations available. As a result, many trains are not shown at all, or are shown as sold out, or only first class fares are suggested (because all standard class seat reservations are gone). This is a ludicrous situation that is painfully typical of the railway!

Some of the prices under £150 will be for Advance tickets, i.e. ones fixed to the specific train in question. Trainline often doesn't make it very easy to see what ticket type they're suggesting until quite late on in the purchase process, so I rarely use them to search for tickets.

I believe all booking websites are now able to issue e-tickets but you may wish to use a website such as TrainSplit or TrainsCanBeCheaper to see if there are cheaper split tickets for the former, or for the latter if it enables more trains to show up on through tickets. The latter is the same as the former, just with splitting disabled. TrainSplit/TCBC will offer e-tickets wherever available. These can be printed or shown on a mobile device as a PDF (I believe you may also be able to show them using the relevant app).

Why would anannouncement informing passengers of the company's policy be 'exceeding his authority'?

It's not the company's policy, but neither is the TM exceeding his authority in making a general announcement, let alone one the company certainly won't mind.

However, the problems you are having probably revolve around the compulsory reservation requirement (and place availability) that some here insist does not exist

If it exists, then why does NRE not mention it anywhere? Why is it nowhere to be found on XCcs website or Twitter feed? It exists solely in the data, as a half-baked excuse of an attempt to "ensure social distancing" when quite frankly passengers are entirely capable of doing so themselves without being infantilised and being told that standard class is "sold out", nothing of the sort being remotely true.

The rail industry is giving passengers enough Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt as it is, with completely mixed messaging and a lot of out of date messages still up on poster boards, websites and social media channels around the country. There's no need to add to the FUD.

 

[Haywain]

For goodness sake, if a train is marked as compulsory reservation in the reservation system then it is a requirement no matter how much you try to deny it. I don’t agree with the way many TOCs are dealing with the current situation but they are simply carrying out their interpretation of DfT edicts.

 

[Alfonso]

If you're aiming for the simplest journey, ignore this, but time can be saved by driving to Tiverton Parkway or Taunton stations and taking the train from there, likewise travelling via Newport is a bit cheaper but a bit slower. Though you'd need to check Welsh Covid restrictions which are different to English ones (edit...Exeter to Warrington is £136 off peak return via Newport. Example Exeter 11:15, arrive Warrington 17:11 changing at Taunton, Newport, Crewe...it's actually pretty similar journey time to via Birmingham)... Transport for Wales currently for essential travel only but advice could change or already have changed)(edit 2...fares and journey times via London are also similar)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I travelled on the 1611 XC service from Leeds to Derby today and the TM announced four times (after leaving Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield and Chesterfield) that "Reservations are now compulsory on XC services" It's the first time I've heard this, having travelled on several services recently and it's not specifically stated on their website.

It is correct (RTT will confirm), though it indeed isn't on their website, which is ridiculous. However, everyone knows how bad XC overcrowding was, so I don't see that they had much of an option.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

For goodness sake, if a train is marked as compulsory reservation in the reservation system then it is a requirement no matter how much you try to deny it. I don’t agree with the way many TOCs are dealing with the current situation but they are simply carrying out their interpretation of DfT edicts.

But again I come back to - if it is compulsory why do XC not have anything on their website, travel advice etc. about it? LNER certainly made their change loud and clear. Same goes for GWR. And if this is compulsory why is it not shown on XC's temporary timetable booklets, for instance?

It's absolutely clear that they are just making things up as they go along, and making trains purportedly but not actually reservation compulsory is part of that.

It must be eminently obvious to anyone that as major a change as this would only be an intentional change if policy if it were accompanied by some announcement.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But again I come back to - if it is compulsory why do XC not have anything on their website, travel advice etc. about it?

"Because they are an utterly awful TOC in every way" would be my response to that. Is there anything good about XC? It doesn't at all surprise me that their communication is poor.

 

[mmh]

But again I come back to - if it is compulsory why do XC not have anything on their website, travel advice etc. about it?

It is on their website. I was directed to it via a banner before anything else was offered to me.

We have started asking all customers to reserve a place on their preferred train so we can closely monitor the numbers of people travelling and maintain social distancing on board. If you don’t have a reservation, then you may not be able to board your preferred train.

I realise of course that you will either (a) deny this exists or (b) offer an analysis of the meaning of the words compulsory and may.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

It is on their website. I was directed to it via a banner before anything else was offered to me.



I realise of course that you will either (a) deny this exists or (b) offer an analysis of the meaning of the words compulsory and may.

That wording is no different to what Avanti are saying, which I don't think anyone is claiming constitutes a compulsory reservation policy. "Asking" is very different to "requiring". You were "asked" to wear a mask in many places they are now compulsory, before they were made compulsory.

Clearly they would really like people to get reservations, which is fair enough, but the suggestion that a one-stop journey from Narborough to South Wigston should require a seat reservation is frankly fanciful.

 

[mmh]

But that wording is no different to what Avanti are saying, which I don't think anyone is claiming constitutes a compulsory reservation policy.

They certainly do claim that, as does signage at stations and ticket machines.

Clearly they would really like people to get reservations, which is fair enough, but the suggestion that a one-stop journey from Narborough to South Wigston should require a seat reservation is frankly fanciful.

That is your suggestion. Nobody other than yourself has given an opinion. The original poster is travelling from Honiton to Warrington, far from a one-stop journey, and was requesting practical advice, not opinions on what a TOC's policy "should" be.