18th May Timetable: This is up and running, and running well at this stage. This isn’t it though because we have had a multitude of requests for refinements and changes and as always these are being fed in. It is important to understand that timetable-wise, clearly Northern does not stand alone, and nationally the number of requests is gargantuan. Therefore we must be realistic regarding timescales and currently early July seems to be the most likely date for any further interventions
Capacity On-train: With the above and with the 2 metre rule strictly enforced, clearly the capacity of our trains will fall. This means that we have to ensure that the maximum is deployed to where it is most needed, and this is feeding people in to the major conurbations to allow the economies to start to recover post-Covid. This all means that the ‘essential travel only’ and ‘no leisure travel’ messages will continue for some time yet. As a railway company this is terrifically counterintuitive but obviously we see the passenger numbers each day and therefore feel it is absolutely the correct course of action.