What a difference a day makes
Fewer than 24 hours after the last issue went to press Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the latest variant of COVID-19 was far more transmissible than the earlier version and that London and the southeast would be entering a new higher level of restrictions – Tier 4 – the next day. By early January the situation had continued to get worse and England entered its third lockdown. As I write this, the daily death figures are frightening and the NHS is near to breaking point in some areas. Anyone who thinks coronavirus isn’t serious needs to urgently wake up.
Does this mean my optimism last month about the prospects for the railways was premature? Well, no, after all we must remember that so far the UK’s vaccination programme is performing superbly, with rates and the number of people immunised outstripping the rest of Europe by some margin, and they are increasing every day. Obviously, this will take a few weeks to filter through and have an effect on the mortality figures, but after the pain comes the gain. There is every possibility that come the spring some of the restrictions can start to be eased – and hopefully by summer we can get out more and enjoy life again. But this needs everyone to play their part in the meantime and follow the rules – the goal is certainly worth it.
Until then, though, the railways continue to struggle. As soon as the third lockdown started, open access operators Hull Trains and Grand Central had no choice but to suspend their services again. With the advice to stay home as much as possible, no non-essential travel allowed and only essential workers supposed to be using public transport, passenger numbers tumbled once more. The Treasury, which has been supporting the railway companies to the tune of around £800m each month, clearly has concerns about the ongoing cost and so services have been reduced again. However, I feel that we are still running too many trains. The vast majority of essential workers live relatively close to their place of work, so commuter services best suited to the relevant shift patterns of those workers are certainly needed. But do we really need long-distance trains, even at reduced schedules? Scotland has effectively banned cross-border travel to England, so do we need hourly Anglo-Scottish services on the West and East Coast routes? Probably not – as photos of completely empty trains have shown. The same could be said for GWR’s Welsh services to and from London. Even when the Tier system returns as the lockdown is lifted, travel between higher and lower Tiers is to be avoided, adding more questions about the justification for long- and medium-distance services. This is a tough one to call, but with most Train Operating Companies suffering from staff shortages due to people isolating or suffering with COVID-19 it could actually be beneficial and, of course, staff can be furloughed.
Meanwhile, Network Rail has continued its engineering projects across the UK (see pages 12-14), and with passenger numbers down due to the Tier 4 restrictions introduced before Christmas, fewer people were affected. This will obviously continue while the lockdown and any subsequent restrictions are in place and takes the pressure off larger schemes such as the Werrington Dive Under.
Regardless of the pandemic a lot has been going on across the rail scene and among the positives is the order of Stadler Class 93 trimode locos for the Rail Operations Group. East Midlands Railway has revealed the interiors for its Class 810 Aurora fleet, with considerable changes to the seats among the refinements. Progress continues, with the Northern Line extension to Battersea Power Station welcoming its first test trains. It’s mixed feelings on the Isle of Wight as it welcomes its new Vivarail Class 484s but bids farewell to the 83-year-old 1938 Tube stock. But if you want to see the definition of stupid, just look at the image on p7 of the clown posing his car on a level crossing for photos – it beggars belief!
Elsewhere, Ian MacLean continues his look at the London Midland Region’s control logs for early 1986 in They Tried to Run a Railway Part 6. I recount personal experiences driving the Southern Region’s EPB units and Alex Fisher examines the history of Aberdeen Ferryhill in our Britain’s Depots series. We also feature some images that were anonymously donated to the Spa Valley Railway – any information as to the photographer would be appreciated! I hope you enjoy this issue.
As we closed for press I received the very sad news that author Vic Mitchell of the Middleton Press has passed away. His prolific writings include several series of books on railway route histories across the UK, dozens of which have been reviewed in Railways Illustrated. I have always enjoyed reviewing his books and his passing is a great loss to railway publishing. More details will appear in the next issue, but I and all at Railways Illustrated offer our condolences to his family and friends.