I’ve travelled through London to visit the Isle of Wight over recent days.
Southeastern High Speed is getting busier. A post-9am journey to London was quite busy, roughly one person per every double seat, on a 6-car.
Victoria Line is the busiest railway line I’ve travelled on post-lockdown. Every seat taken and people standing, on a journey just before midday.
Southern from Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour was fairly quiet, but this was a 12-car service at around midday (4-car after Horsham). It seemed more people got on at Clapham Juntion and East Croydon than compared to Victoria. A handful with luggage got off at Gatwick. It got quite busy with maskless school and college students along the south coast.
Island Line got busy on services meeting ferries at the Pier Head, sometimes with standing passengers. Other journeys fairly quiet, sometimes having a carriage to myself. However, this seemed no different to my experience of this line in 2018.
SWT from Portsmouth to Clapham Junction was fairly quiet until reaching Guildford and Woking. Watching the service leave at Clapham, roughly 10 people per carriage.
Clapham Junction was very busy. I haven’t seen a station like that since before lockdown. But, that’s probably only the 3rd or 4th time I’ve been to that station, so can’t really compare it to normal times.
Victoria Line busy again Vauxhall-Kings Cross. I was quite uncomfortable with people sitting all around me and standing right by me. I do find busy Tubes overwhelming even before Covid though.
An early evening Southeastern High Speed from St Pancras to Kent was fairly busy, with roughly one person per every double seat. Before lockdown, these departures were often completely full, sometimes with no more room even for standing passengers.