Recommissioning after Coronavirus

Mountsorrel Heritage Centre are intending to reopen once "Stage 3" comes in towards the middle/end of May. That will at least mean that the whole site will reopen at the same time rather than just selected parts of it.

 

Just wondering if there's any word on how railways which have reopened are going on for visitor numbers so far?

I read on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite newsletter that the Lakes have been very quiet to date and they're hoping the next stage of easing on Monday will see numbers increasing.

So have other lines been doing well by offering effectively an indoor attraction while others are closed, or are people not heading out in large numbers just yet?

Jon

 

I have wondered that too.
My dad has been to the P&DSR and ESR. Three in his coach out to Kingswear, and fuller on the way back although all the passengers managed to fit on the platform seats before the train arrived. Only 3 on the Dartmouth ferry going over and 8 back. ESR very quite apparently also.
Here in Swanage post Easter holidays where trains looked very busy, loadings appear light from the few I have seen, but then the town is very quiet. Even the Airbnb next door has been empty a lot of the time. Hopefully things will pick up after next week's relaxations.
Maybe like me older people are also waiting for the second jab (due in 75 minutes time) and the two week "kick in period" before venturing on to trains.
Although when I mentioned this on a different rail forum I had my post removed and a strong PM from an administrator.

 

On what grounds!?

Similar story at GWSR, pretty quiet. Hopefully things will pick up for us now that we're offering trips beginning at the Cheltenham end too along with, as you say, more passenger confidence as more folks get their vaccines.

 

I suspect @Gladiator 5076's comment about waiting for a 2nd jab (plus some time for it to kick-in) is on the ball. I'm certainly not doing anything "indoorsy", beyond what's completely unavoidable, before mine, in a couple of weeks. Other considerations permitting, it'll be quarter past June before I'm out and about.

 

A lot depends on public perception, whilst some may think , its safe now, and want to travel, others will be more cautious ,It also depends on what impact, the easing of restrictions has on the infection numbers, If after a couple of weeks, and there is no marked increase of cases, then hopefully people will start to get out and about more, but i would think it may take certainly a few months before people really begin to feel its safe now. and hopefully the leasure market might be able to regain some lost income, from what is going to be a short Summer, early Autumn season.

 

The short answer was my opinion (which supported another poster comments) did not agree with his anti lockdown, anti mask, open everything up views. After a few PM exchanges I gave up after the comment
"If you are not travelling there is no reason to reply to tell us this". It was a thread about impact of restriction changes after March 29th!

 

Being in a less at risk age bracket, having had covid and first jab I'm none too worried about visiting places, and have done a trip to the GCR, but I'm not visiting anywhere else at the moment as I feel like I'll be getting only a fraction of the experience I would do normally. For the GCR you can only go on the platform shortly before the service you are booked on, and there's no access to any shed's or yard. Part of the experience I've enjoyed previously when visiting preserved lines is the ability to jump off trains and have a good look around the stations, sheds/yard and a chance to see what else they have that's not running on that day. I went to the GCR as its one of my local lines and wanted to add my support, and would venture further if I knew I'd get to see more than just a return trip on the line.

Once lines are fully open and I can can make a full day of it I'll be starting to visit more places. Until then it feels like a lot of hassle to me for very little.

 

I had an SMS yesterday, telling me my 2nd jab should be done earlier than planned. Unfortunately, the link provided didn't serve the purpose of a straightforward change of date, requiring a cancellation first. Like many of us oldsters, I don't completely trust myself with online systems, so rather than cock it all up and wind up with no second appointment, I dialled 119, where much guesswork was needed to get me speaking to a human being. That accomplished, the (very pleasant) woman on the other end confirmed I was far from the only sorely confused old fart! The upshot is, it looks as if I'll now be able to go out to play again at the start of June. Hooray!!

Now expecting a sciatica and/or arthritis flare up. Cheerful old sod, ain't I?

 

I received one of those texts yesterday as well, though, given my second jab is in a fortnights time, I couldn't see much point in actually changing it to an earlier date!

 

Lazy as well as technophobic! Fair play to you, Sir!

Mine was just a 10 day improvement, but being in an 'at risk' category, what with all these new strains doing the rounds, I decided to bite the bullet, rather than kick the bucket, just in case the end of lockdown goes tits-up.

I saw my dentist for the first time since Aug 2019 earlier today and he's one of a handful I've seen who's been keeping fit enough to shed a few kilos, unlike me!

 

Exactly the same for me. I'm not worried about crowds etc but I don't feel I'm getting value for money from a preserved line visit at the moment. In many cases it isn't worth the time and cost to visit somewhere against the short, fixed time experience I get when I'm there. Asa result my railway trips have been far more limited than normal. In fact I've actually done a lot more travelling on normal main line services, visiting lines I wouldn't normally visit and making use of rover and ranger tickets. Hopefully though, I'll be able to start visiting preserved lines again soon.

 

In my teens I'd go out on the mainline most weekends, but now when I do travel its mainly for work, but I'm the same in that it feels like a rover on the main line is better value than a visit to a heritage line. I recently did a few lines locally that I've never really been bothered to visit and marked off visiting a few stations along the way with only the weather stopping me from staying out longer. I've had a look for where is open at half term, but still limited services, so looks like I'll not be taking my daughter along to any where that week, but hoping by the summer holidays a bit more normality will have returned.

 

Putting myself in the shoes of the public at large, a lot of people aren't keen on doing things that involve being marshalled, regimented, told where to stand, when to wear a mask, and generally bossed around when they are supposed to be enjoying themselves. No doubt all the railway staff are models of tact and kindness, and keep the restrictions as unobtrusive as possible, but I won't know until I get there! The prospect of that sort of thing certainly puts me off going anywhere more "organised" than a walk in the country at the moment, and I'm happy to wait until I can be more confident that the experience will actually be enjoyable before visiting attractions. I appreciate that 's not much consolation for businesses who need cash flow now, but I suspect that's the way it is for many people.

 

In construction, everybody who is working is very busy. anyone who is still on furlough is probably wondering about the odds of coming back. Also, the weather is not exactly propitious to coming out, but no-one is on holiday and so desperate to do something in the rain.

There's a lot fewer hardcore trainfans that there are people who will quite happily visit one if it's there. Hopefully,things will pick up again as the weather does.

 

There seems to be a degree of foot dragging around. This is on the part of some lines. who have not been particularly brisk in reopening as well as some enthusiasts. If the latter don't travel because they are miffed about precautionary measures then the recovery from the economic disaster of Covid-19 by lines will be delayed and may even not happen. Come on .(some ) gricers, be a little less precious!

As for inoculation the Nelsonian maxim of ''lose not an hour'' seems about right.

 

I have finite time, energy and money - as do others. The brutal reality is that for me, as for many, a visit to a railway will be based on what the visit will give me in return for the value.

 

Interesting viewpoint, myself and the wife were in the checkout queue in our local garden centre on Saturday both wearing Swanage Railway face masks. The woman in front in the queue turned around and on seeing the masks quite aggressively said do you both work for the Swanage Railway. We said no just supporters, and she seemed OK with that but at the time I did wonder if some experience had made her react in that way.

 

I think if someone who is a potential customer within the sector says they are not travelling due to poor perceived value for money, the correct response would be to try to understand the viewpoint rather than hector them for foot dragging.

The anecdotal evidence from several lines that did reopen in April is that they have been quiet, and presumably that is quiet against even revised part-full loadings. We should try to understand why that is rather than just berate potential customers. Maybe the “one trip, out and back, marshalled through defined routes” isn’t what people want to do. Spontaneity is something that has been missing for the last year, but which isn’t necessarily well met by current heritage operations.

Tom

 

Dangerous places garden centres...

From people I know, it's not so much the dislike of "being told what to do" as the faff of it all.