Train capacity will be sliced by 90 per cent
TRAINS will be 90 per cent empty after lockdown, the Transport Secretary has said, as he hailed a £2billion package to create an era for cycling and walking.
Grant Shapps announced the investment as he said even if the UK transport network is at full capacity the two-metre social distancing rule would mean only one in 10 passengers could travel.
Speaking at yesterday’s briefing, Mr Shapps said: “Even with public transport recovering to full service, once you take into account the two-metre social distancing rule there will only be effective capacity for one in 10.”
He added that “getting Britain moving again while not overcrowding our transport network” will present an “enormous logistical challenge”. But he said that the plan presents a “health opportunity” for Britons to choose alternatives that make them “fitter” and “better off mentally and physically”.
Pop-up bike lanes with protected space for cycling, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle- and busonly corridors will be created in England within weeks as part of a £250million emergency active travel fund – the first stage of the £2billion investment, which in turn is part of £5billion of funding announced in February for cycling and buses.
Vouchers will be issued for cycle repairs, to encourage people to get their old bikes out of the shed, and there will be more bike-fixing facilities.
Roads will also be temporarily closed near schools during drop off and pick up times, with barriers, cones and other measures put in place to deter people from driving on the school run.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, told The Observer: “It will mean timed restrictions on traffic around schools. You need to reduce the amount of traffic to allow pupils and parents to walk safely.”
Mr Shapps also confirmed that escooter trials will be brought forward to next month. The Government will also fund and work with local authorities including Greater Manchester, which wants to create 150 miles of protected cycle track, and Transport for London, which plans a “bike Tube” network above Underground lines.