Travel over Christmas

[MikeWM]

Why are people stressing over this?
The chances of being approached by a police officer are about as similar as catching Covid. In any event, all you’d have to say is that you’re travelling to a nearby local station and that’s the end of the discussion!

Maybe I phrased it badly - not stressing about it at all

Though I do think travel on the 27th has the potential to be stressful from the 'numbers of people' point of view, especially given it has all been compressed into one day.

 

[LAX54]

Thinking more into the future. Maybe with leisure travel becoming more dominant post covid than business travel and commuting, perhaps the age old ' we do engineering work over Christmas and New Year because it is less busy' will be untrue not only this year but for many years to come. Christmas and New Year may become provably busier than 'normal weeks' and engineering work could be legitimately scheduled during 'Normal' weeks instead. ( I anticipate this suggestion will probably not go down well on this forum !!)

Could indeed move it on a bit, maybe to July & August, longer daylight, not freezing conditions, less travel as people of on leave and not at work, so not as many commuters.
You may well have Hotels and B&B's moaning, and those that wish to go on holiday to the seaside, or it could be moved to Easter, but is that not another 'family' gathering time ? (you only have to look at the roads!)

27th is a Sunday, and 28th in the Boxing Day bank holiday, which will exacerbate matters if it's a normal Sunday/bank holiday reduced service.

Very shortsighted to make people leave their family or whoever they are visiting before even the official Boxing Day. Can't see many people making a move before 29th, when hopefully things will be back to something like the current normal.

Official Boxing day is still the 26th ! the 'extra' day on the 28th has nothing to do with it, or just stay at home, or travel locally, people do not have to go from one end of the Country to the other !

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Could indeed move it on a bit, maybe to July & August, longer daylight, not freezing conditions, less travel as people of on leave and not at work, so not as many commuters.
You may well have Hotels and B&B's moaning, and those that wish to go on holiday to the seaside, or it could be moved to Easter, but is that not another 'family' gathering time ? (you only have to look at the roads!)


Official Boxing day is still the 26th ! the 'extra' day on the 28th has nothing to do with it, or just stay at home, or travel locally, people do not have to go from one end of the Country to the other !

People should do whatever they need to do on the 28th. Advice is not law.

 

[trainophile]

Well I'm hopefully making a swift trip to check on my flat before the end of the year, in case we're back in lockdown in January. To make it worth while and be back for NY Eve (not that we do anything but it seems appropriate to be together) I'm going up on 28th. Pleasantly surprised that the trains seem to be running pretty much as normal considering it's officially a bank holiday. Travelling from tier 1 (smug smiley ) to tier 2 so don't feel I'm committing any huge offence.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I will likely be travelling from the 22nd to late on Boxing Day

Which complies with the spirit, if not the letter! Same no. of days, just a little staggered.

 

[LAX54]

People should do whatever they need to do on the 28th. Advice is not law.

I was just saying that the official Boxing day was still, and always is the 26th, another poster was saying that the 28th was the 'Official' Boxing day, which of course is not true

 

[trainophile]

I was just saying that the official Boxing day was still, and always is the 26th, another poster was saying that the 28th was the 'Official' Boxing day, which of course is not true

My Outlook calendar calls it the Boxing Day Bank Holiday.

 

[MikeWM]

People should do whatever they need to do on the 28th. Advice is not law.

For travel, yes.

However the household mixing 'relaxations' expire at the end of the 27th. Whether anyone chooses to care about that is up to them, of course!

 

[Jamesrob637]

For travel, yes.

However the household mixing 'relaxations' expire at the end of the 27th. Whether anyone chooses to care about that is up to them, of course!

Cue engines firing up and clogged roads in towns and cities at 00:01 on the 28th!

 

[BluePenguin]

So with the travel window effectively abandoned and travel now only allowed on 25th December will everyone decide to travel to see relatives at once? With no trains running and no further guidance I predict compete chaos....

 

[kristiang85]

I'm in Tier 2 but need to go to Heathrow on Boxing Day, which is in Tier 4.

I presume I can still get a taxi from Tier 2 to there?

 

[philosopher]

Does anyone know if I can visit someone in Tier 4 can visit their other half of their support bubble in Tier 3 after today? What I have read so far sounds very ambiguous.

 

[Megafuss]

So with the travel window effectively abandoned and travel now only allowed on 25th December will everyone decide to travel to see relatives at once? With no trains running and no further guidance I predict compete chaos....

I genuinely think this part is heartless and bordering on discrimination.

Why should one set of people be able to celebrate some form of Christmas with other households just because they are able to get themselves from one place to another on a day when no public transport operates.

I've long thought the government treats public transport as second class citizens, and this is further proof. They simply don't care

 

[jamesst]

So with the travel window effectively abandoned and travel now only allowed on 25th December will everyone decide to travel to see relatives at once? With no trains running and no further guidance I predict compete chaos....

I don't!

 

[BluePenguin]

I genuinely think this part is heartless and bordering on discrimination.

Why should one set of people be able to celebrate some form of Christmas with other households just because they are able to get themselves from one place to another on a day when no public transport operates.

I've long thought the government treats public transport as second class citizens, and this is further proof. They simply don't care

I completely agree. It is simply another case of the haves and have nots and completely unfair.

Other than depending on close friends and family to provide lifts, some people will be unable to travel unless they choose to break government guidelines. The railways in this country provide an important service to us all. Those without a car will not be able to take advantage of the freedoms on the 25th which others will.

The government has never been interested in making the railways accessible to all. It is an annoyance an irritation which they wish to subsidise as little as possible. Many people in the this country of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin don't even celebrate Christmas and would happily work 24th - 27th whilst being paid over time pay or not. These individuals could come to the rescue and be easily be drafted in by TOCs. But no, you either drive/taxi/cycle or you stay at home. So much for providing a public service eh?

 

[221129]

These individuals could come to the rescue and be easily be drafted in by TOCs. But no, you either drive/taxi/cycle or you stay at home. So much for providing a public service eh?

Can draft in as many people as you want but wont be helpful if there is a massive hole where you want to run trains. No one to drive them either unless you're going to spend millions recruiting extra drivers just for 2 days of the year.

 

[bramling]

I don't!

Chaos or otherwise, I suspect we won’t quite see the usual deserted roads this Christmas Day.

Though even on my local social media many people are saying they have no plans to follow these latest impositions.

 

[BluePenguin]

Can draft in as many people as you want but wont be helpful if there is a massive hole where you want to run trains. No one to drive them either unless you're going to spend millions recruiting extra drivers just for 2 days of the year.

Of course, it is much easier said than done. However, gradually aiming to recruit more Muslim, Sikh and Hindu drivers who are also willing to drive over the festive period will generate additional revenue in the long run. Although despite not celebrating Christmas, there is no guarantee that these drivers would not choose to take the time off to do something else....

 

[221129]

Of course, it is much easier said than done. However, gradually aiming to recruit more Muslim, Sikh and Hindu drivers who are also willing to drive over the festive period will generate additional revenue in the long run. Although despite not celebrating Christmas, there is no guarantee that these drivers would not choose to take the time off to do something else....

Again missing the point that, you can have as many drivers etc as you want, but you wont get far if the railway is all dug up!

 

[bramling]

I completely agree. It is simply another case of the haves and have nots and completely unfair.

Other than depending on close friends and family to provide lifts, some people will be unable to travel unless they choose to break government guidelines. The railways in this country provide an important service to us all. Those without a car will not be able to take advantage of the freedoms on the 25th which others will.

The government has never been interested in making the railways accessible to all. It is an annoyance an irritation which they wish to subsidise as little as possible. Many people in the this country of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin don't even celebrate Christmas and would happily work 24th - 27th whilst being paid over time pay or not. These individuals could come to the rescue and be easily be drafted in by TOCs. But no, you either drive/taxi/cycle or you stay at home. So much for providing a public service eh?

I wouldn’t say the latter point is necessarily true. Certainly at my place there’s plenty of people from ethnic or religious backgrounds which don’t celebrate Christmas but who still look forward to the time off.

In any case, thinking of my place it wouldn’t work. Just thinking of some signalling locations they are pretty exclusively staffed by white males, though I daresay some might be enticed to work if the remuneration was decent enough. The trouble is that you only have to have one critical function where staff can’t be found to work, and the whole pack of cards falls.

 

[BluePenguin]

Again missing the point that, you can have as many drivers etc as you want, but you wont get far if the railway is all dug up!

In that case I am not sure what your point is? If by dug up you refer to engineering works then that is a separate can of worms. Christmas is a great time to get much needed work done, but could that time be better used providing revenue generating services to the masses? Back on topic, the railway running over Christmas would be highly beneficial and allow many people to travel who otherwise would not.

 

[Bald Rick]

Of course, it is much easier said than done. However, gradually aiming to recruit more Muslim, Sikh and Hindu drivers who are also willing to drive over the festive period will generate additional revenue in the long run. Although despite not celebrating Christmas, there is no guarantee that these drivers would not choose to take the time off to do something else....

Would be intersting to see how you could have different terms and conditions for peopl fo different faiths ...

 

[island]

I'm in Tier 2 but need to go to Heathrow on Boxing Day, which is in Tier 4.

I presume I can still get a taxi from Tier 2 to there?

As it stands, yes.

 

[221129]

In that case I am not sure what your point is? If by dug up you refer to engineering works then that is a separate can of worms. Christmas is a great time to get much needed work done, but could that time be better used providing revenue generating services to the masses? Back on topic, the railway running over Christmas would be highly beneficial and allow many people to travel who otherwise would not.

What masses would these be? The significant majority of people will not be travelling on Christmas Day. Trains or no trains.

 

[Megafuss]

I completely agree. It is simply another case of the haves and have nots and completely unfair.

Other than depending on close friends and family to provide lifts, some people will be unable to travel unless they choose to break government guidelines. The railways in this country provide an important service to us all. Those without a car will not be able to take advantage of the freedoms on the 25th which others will.

The government has never been interested in making the railways accessible to all. It is an annoyance an irritation which they wish to subsidise as little as possible. Many people in the this country of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin don't even celebrate Christmas and would happily work 24th - 27th whilst being paid over time pay or not. These individuals could come to the rescue and be easily be drafted in by TOCs. But no, you either drive/taxi/cycle or you stay at home. So much for providing a public service eh?

I am actually furious about this. It's actually inhumane the more I think about it

Personally I am OK for Christmas, but there will be many thousands, maybe even millions of lone households that could be somewhere on Christmas Day but are simply unable to do so as they've commited the crime of not owning a car.

Some might say, well that's good as less people will travel. But that's not the point. You either ban mixing for everyone so that nobody is given preferential treatment or you give folk that live on there own and only use public transport some leeway to do so. It's wrong on every level.

 

[BluePenguin]

What masses would these be? The significant majority of people will not be travelling on Christmas Day. Trains or no trains.

The masses which descend on Britain's road over the Christmas period. They might travel by rail if the option was available, Whether popping over to see friends or family in the afternoon or another scenario.

In our family, some years we have copied the Europeans by having Christmas dinner and doing presents on Christmas eve and then driven to Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire or Essex on Christmas Day to visit extended family and other relatives. Would we prefer to go by train? Yes, as this would allow the driver a few more drinks. I appreciate we are likely to be an isolated case. However, many people WILL want to travel whether it is Christmas or not. Somebody somewhere will wish to travel on the 25th and be unable to because the railway would apparently "prefer to get the diggers out"

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I find it amusing that none of our elected leaders have had the guts to cancel Christmas this year.

You were saying?!

What's the arrangement with pre-booked tickets now that travel over Christmas is no longer advised / no longer permitted?

 

[adc82140]

Does anyone know if I can visit someone in Tier 4 can visit their other half of their support bubble in Tier 3 after today? What I have read so far sounds very ambiguous.

Yes you can. Support bubbles are unchanged. They would not we well advised to change them in the future either. Can you imagine the headlines? "Single and vulnerable people told to lump it as support withdrawn" .

 

[stuu]

Many people in the this country of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin don't even celebrate Christmas and would happily work 24th - 27th whilst being paid over time pay or not.

I'd like to see some evidence of that. My experience is that people of different religions are equally keen on having christmas trees, presents, stuffing their faces etc just as enthusiastically as anyone else. What percentage of the Anglo Saxon heritage population celebrate Christmas for religious reasons?

 

[Jamesrob637]

I'd like to see some evidence of that. My experience is that people of different religions are equally keen on having christmas trees, presents, stuffing their faces etc just as enthusiastically as anyone else. What percentage of the Anglo Saxon heritage population celebrate Christmas for religious reasons?

I certainly don't want to work on 25th or 26th December although I know and appreciate that some have to.