Should NR be wrapping a train in support of the NHS?

[Puffing Devil]

Northern tweeted today with images of a train wrapped with support message for the NHS.



Is this really essential work? Better instead to be staying at home and reducing pressure on the NHS? Donate the money to buy some much needed PPE?

I do have enormous respect for those involved at helping the community in this tough time - I believe that our resources should be directed where they can do the most good and that people should simply stay at home unless necessary.

 

[221129]

Better instead to be staying at home and reducing pressure on the NHS?

Do you really think people will be coming in specially to do that?! It will be done by people that would be working anyway.

 

[gazthomas]

I have very mixed feelings about this. It's nice that they're supporting essential key workers, i.e. the NHS but I wonder if it's a good use of resources. I also think there is a bit of a bandwagon, with GBRf first following Thameslink. They could have shown appreciation of key workers travelling on trains by updating PIS and other information screens for much less cost.

 

[Vespa]

Their trains, their rules, they can do what they want.

Personally I'm all for it.

 

[Domh245]

Whether the work is essential or not is irrelevant, it's if the work can be done safely whilst maintaining appropriate social distancing measures. Which they did. I wish people would get rid of this idea that you're only allowed to work if you're in a select few jobs - the government has only enforced closure of a select few businesses - everyone else is allowed to carry on whilst obeying social distancing rules.

Also worth noting that it wasn't Northern depot staff that wrapped it, but Aura who from memory also were involved with the GTR units

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's quite cool, yes, and is good publicity for them.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Do you really think people will be coming in specially to do that?! It will be done by people that would be working anyway.

Do they need to be working on this, if they need to be working at all?

As I type this I'm hearing the "Stay at home, spare the NHS, save lives" message again on the radio. We're either serious about stopping the spread, or we're not.

 

[Cowley]

I think it’s a sad state of affairs when one group of essential workers show their appreciation for another group of essential workers and it gets complained about.
And as @221129 says, they’d have been there anyway doing work. I’m sure they didn’t do an extra journey in just to do that...

 

[Puffing Devil]

Whether the work is essential or not is irrelevant, it's if the work can be done safely whilst maintaining appropriate social distancing measures. Which they did. I wish people would get rid of this idea that you're only allowed to work if you're in a select few jobs - the government has only enforced closure of a select few businesses - everyone else is allowed to carry on whilst obeying social distancing rules.

Also worth noting that it wasn't Northern depot staff that wrapped it, but Aura who from memory also were involved with the GTR units

I'm not bothered about who did it. It's should we really be doing it at all. It's not essential, workers are out doing a job that does not need to be done with the associated risks of both contracting the virus and an industrial accident. Spend the money on the NHS or whatever - don't waste resources on a PR stunt.

Ask a frontline worker if they would rather have a liveried train or some PPE.

 

[Puffing Devil]

I think it’s a sad state of affairs when one group of essential workers show their appreciation for another group of essential workers and it gets complained about.
And as @221129 says, they’d have been there anyway doing work. I’m sure they didn’t do an extra journey in just to do that...

Train livery application = essential work? I think not.

Put a message on the Screens or make a PA.

 

[Cowley]

I'm not bothered about who did it. It's should we really be doing it at all. It's not essential, workers are out doing a job that does not need to be done with the associated risks of both contracting the virus and an industrial accident. Spend the money on the NHS or whatever - don't waste resources on a PR stunt.

Ask a frontline worker if they would rather have a liveried train or some PPE.

How about looking at it a different way?
The small amount of time taken during a shift to do this might have saved lives in the long run because people doing journeys that weren’t necessarily essential will have read it and had a think...

 

[Puffing Devil]

How about looking at it a different way?
The small amount of time taken during a shift to do this might have saved lives in the long run because people doing journeys that weren’t necessarily essential will have read it and had a think...

Clutching at straws there. "NHS We Thank You". No mention of "Is your journey really necessary". Or "We were going to livery this train but gave the money to Capt. Tom instead"

 

[221129]

Train livery application = essential work? I think not.

Put a message on the Screens or make a PA.

Other than you having a bash at Northern (yawn) who actually cares?

 

[Domh245]

I'm not bothered about who did it. It's should we really be doing it at all. It's not essential, workers are out doing a job that does not need to be done with the associated risks of both contracting the virus and an industrial accident. Spend the money on the NHS or whatever - don't waste resources on a PR stunt.

Ask a frontline worker if they would rather have a liveried train or some PPE.

Taking that to it's logical extreme, nobody leaves the house at all, then your front-line workers have no reason to leave the house either and a short while later the economy collapses. And that's far worse than the virus.

The associate risks of contracting the virus is minimised by making sure that you follow social distancing, hand hygiene and the rest of it, whilst the risk of an industrial accident, let alone one that'd require medical attention are ridiculously small. Clutching at straws indeed...

 

[Darandio]

Northern tweeted today with images of a train wrapped with support message for the NHS.



Is this really essential work? Better instead to be staying at home and reducing pressure on the NHS? Donate the money to buy some much needed PPE?

I do have enormous respect for those involved at helping the community in this tough time - I believe that our resources should be directed where they can do the most good and that people should simply stay at home unless necessary.

Any chance of links to your similar threads about Thameslink and GBRf? Ta.

 

[Cowley]

Clutching at straws there. "NHS We Thank You". No mention of "Is your journey really necessary". Or "We were going to livery this train but gave the money to Capt. Tom instead"

Well I don’t agree with you but you have made me chuckle.
I just don’t see a problem with it to be honest.

 

[scotrail158713]

I’d imagine social distancing can still be done whilst carrying out this work so I’m all for it

 

[najaB]

Train livery application = essential work?

Do they need to be working on this, if they need to be working at all?

I'm 99% sure that the unit would have been in for other work already, the only additional effort would have been sending Dave down to the printers to collect the special-order vinyls.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Any chance of links to your similar threads about Thameslink and GBRf? Ta.

Would happily start them - I don't follow them on twitter. Same sentiment applies.

 

[MDB1images]

Thameslink, Southern, Northern and GBRF have done it(if not more)
If it gives a slight boost to one NHS worker coming off a naff 12 hour shift heading home then it's worth it.

Actually think it's boosts all key workers morale in these dreadful times when they see signage like this and similar thank you messages.

 

[Puffing Devil]

I’d imagine social distancing can still be done whilst carrying out this work so I’m all for it

At the time of typing the UK has 310 deaths per million of population and has operated a limited lockdown in comparison to many other countries. Infections continue in the country.
New Zealand has 4 deaths per million of population and have no new cases. They shut up shop ASAP and didn't allow any work other than that which contributed to public safety.

Liveries on trains are not essential. It contributes, albeit in a small way, to the failure of the country to get to grips with the control of the virus.

We reap what we sow and the tolerance of many to continue with life as "normal" contributes to the continuing infections and subsequent deaths.

 

[najaB]

We reap what we sow and the tolerance of many to continue with life as "normal" contributes to the continuing infections and subsequent deaths.

Most of the difference is due to the UK and New Zealand being very different countries. It was much more widely spread in the UK much earlier (since Brits travel much more and more widely than Kiwis) and the fact that the government was initially committed to a strategy of herd immunity made things even worse. At the point where we implemented a lock-down, nothing short of boarding people in their houses would have resulted in a lower death rate.

While 21,000 and counting is a terrible toll it would easily have been approaching half a million had we really proceeded with life as normal.

New Zealand has 4 deaths per million of population and have no new cases.

They had new cases yesterday, by the way.

 

[ainsworth74]

Guess this would be a bad moment to mention that it wasn't just one train but three and one of them get named as well let alone mentioning the aircraft that's been wrapped in a "Thank You NHS" livery!

Personally I thought it was good gesture by Northern and the other TOCs that have already and are proposing to do so (GWR for instance I think are going to do it as well).

 

[pdeaves]

Train livery application = essential work? I think not.
Put a message on the Screens or make a PA.

I suspect that if they had done that, someone would have criticised the effort put in to programming the screens as non-essential, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Cowley]

I suspect that if they had done that, someone would have criticised the effort put in to programming the screens as non-essential, etc., etc., etc.

Exactly, and so it goes on...

I think that’ll do for this thread. There’s plenty enough in this section to debate and what needs to be said has probably been said on this one.
Different opinions and all that eh.
Thanks all.