‘Continuing disaster entirely avoidable’

I READ the letter from Wolfgang Kuchler (Sentinel, October 28) with sad agreement.

Mr Kuchler and his girlfriend found themselves on a two-carriage train that was full to capacity on a trip from Derby to Crewe.

Although the clear advice – but only advice – is to wear a face covering on a crowded train, most people were not following the recommendation from East Midlands Railway (EMR).

As a result, crowded trains like this will spread the virus. We will be in a cycle of infection forever.

To be clear, public transport is safe enough if people act to halt the spread of Covid-19 by taking the basic measures that we all know about. On the whole, buses have been much better.

Mr Kuchler correctly points out that the government are trying to kid us the pandemic is all over. One example of this is Tory MPS reluctant to wear face masks in parliament.

He also puts the blame on train companies failing in their duty of care.

I have twice raised this issue with another company who told me they were prevented by government from taking a tougher line in June.

The government did not want to make sensible behaviour compulsory. If we get ill, the blame is put on us for catching the virus by our own lack of care.

The other problem on the route to Derby is that EMR has failed to run the timetable it promised.

On weekdays, six out of 16 trains in each direction are not running, so frequently there is a twohour gap between EMR trains. At Longport this was particularly a problem.

I have, since EMR’S timetable failure, been able to persuade London Northwestern Railway to

stop some of their trains at Longport to plug most of the gaps.

As a result, rail users at Longport now have some direct trains to Birmingham.

But alongside Mr Kuchler I would hope more passengers would take note of what is going on in the world. The continuing disaster in this country is avoidable.

JONATHAN HEAL NORTH STAFFS RAIL PROMOTION GROUP