Reduced public transport to begin March 23rd
Buses, tubes, DLR and London Overground services will operate a Saturday service throughout the week from 23rd March due to declining passenger numbers.
There is no word yet on rail franchises such as Southeastern. Franchise operators are all in talks with central Government who determine frequency levels.
Today saw South West Rail announce a shortage of drivers due to sickness (self-isolation being the likely candidate) meaning service cuts. Most rail companies are reliant on drivers working overtime and rest days to provide mandated service levels.
Saturday service is not a huge downgrade for most, and generally means less in the peaks. Some bus routes have similar Saturday daytime timetables to weekdays with some slightly reduced. The tube is similar as is the DLR.
TfL have asked for an emergency £500 million as passenger numbers have fallen so sharply recently – and look set to remain low for many months ahead.
What will really be noticeable is if a Sunday service is introduced throughout the week. That promises a more severe downgrade and increases the chance of passengers concentrated in close proximity.
I just hope the reductions in services do not become permanent and timetables not increased again once the corona virus crisis is over. So we can cut backto normal as quickly as possible.
I agree we must have timetables re-instated to previous timetables once we are over the worse of the cornavirus Pandemic and people start to return to work and some sort of anormal life.
We cannot get back to the situaiton where people are travelling on over crowded public transport whether it be buses trains, DLR or the Underground. We must take sensible precautions for several months to come to protect our own and other peoples health.