Avoiding public transport

Thrugelmir

lisyloo said:

a_fierce_bad_rabbit said:

I’m curious if anyone else is due to return to work and will need public transport?

would love to hear your thoughts/feats etc.
its the message that we are to actively avoid it that’s confusing. 

personally I think the risk is low for the young and healthy.

Risk of what?  

[Deleted User]

Some trains also have fully open carriages all the way down which I would think are better than multiple closed off carriages. Just before the lockdown I was sat just over 2 meters from someone that decided to cough loudly without covering their mouth. I got up and moved right down the length of the train. If your on a closed off carriage then your stuck until the next station if you did want to move. I'm fortunate in that the overground train I get has not long been replaced so the original double seating throughout the carriage are now more like an underground train with sideways seating but it's much wider and generally if timed right and avoiding rush hour it's not bad to travel. My concern is the couple of trains I have to get into London which can be busy plus the walk between different platforms and passing large groups on escalators. 

a_fierce_bad_rabbit

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, there’s a lot to mull over.

lisyloo

Thrugelmir said:

lisyloo said:

a_fierce_bad_rabbit said:

I’m curious if anyone else is due to return to work and will need public transport?

would love to hear your thoughts/feats etc.
its the message that we are to actively avoid it that’s confusing. 

personally I think the risk is low for the young and healthy.

Risk of what?  

Risk of death or serious illness. Of course it’s there but so is a small risk of dying in the car, train, flu, pneumonia etc. We all take risks all the time e.g. 1/16 million of dying on a flight.
Sooner or or later we are going to have to live with this risk as we do with many others. most of us don’t refuse to get in a car or airplane, we accept the risk.

a_fierce_bad_rabbit

This is west coast mainline, between Cumbria and Manchester. 

lisyloo

Daveym79 said:

Some trains also have fully open carriages all the way down which I would think are better than multiple closed off carriages. Just before the lockdown I was sat just over 2 meters from someone that decided to cough loudly without covering their mouth. I got up and moved right down the length of the train. If your on a closed off carriage then your stuck until the next station if you did want to move. I'm fortunate in that the overground train I get has not long been replaced so the original double seating throughout the carriage are now more like an underground train with sideways seating but it's much wider and generally if timed right and avoiding rush hour it's not bad to travel. My concern is the couple of trains I have to get into London which can be busy plus the walk between different platforms and passing large groups on escalators. 

I can’t speak for your trains but if the escalators have markings on almost everyone is complying in London. I’ve had very few issues although there’s the odd person walking round in a daze, inattentive rather than deliberate. Most people are giving way getting off and on

[Deleted User]

lisyloo said:

Daveym79 said:

Some trains also have fully open carriages all the way down which I would think are better than multiple closed off carriages. Just before the lockdown I was sat just over 2 meters from someone that decided to cough loudly without covering their mouth. I got up and moved right down the length of the train. If your on a closed off carriage then your stuck until the next station if you did want to move. I'm fortunate in that the overground train I get has not long been replaced so the original double seating throughout the carriage are now more like an underground train with sideways seating but it's much wider and generally if timed right and avoiding rush hour it's not bad to travel. My concern is the couple of trains I have to get into London which can be busy plus the walk between different platforms and passing large groups on escalators. 

I can’t speak for your trains but if the escalators have markings on almost everyone is complying in London. I’ve had very few issues although there’s the odd person walking round in a daze, inattentive rather than deliberate. Most people are giving way getting off and on

It's not so much being on the same escaltor as others it's the escalators that pass by yours. Whilst they can ad markings they can't move an escaltor so how does that work. Some have a staircase inbetween escalators aswell so people are passing right beside. Maybe they have closed off the staircases but then that could be a hazard if there was an emergency. I'll have to see as I need to plan which day I'm going to return this week and judge from that experience if its worth doing regularly.

I do wonder what will happen though if and when a train breaks down and knowing your stuck with any number of people for a prelonged period. I had a delay last christmas of nearly 2 hours stuck just outside a station. It was walking distance to the next station but TFL refused to let us off due to safety issues and it turned into a nightmare journey with people having to be let of the train on ladders and across tracks. Definitely not something anyone wants to be doing the way things are at the moment. 

lisyloo

One option for two escalators is for people to stand on the side where they are furthest away. That sort of thing should be arranged locally. 
In the little Waitrose at Vauxhall it’s one way round the shop with the ends of some aisle taped off. It’s now one in one out and there are marking outside to show people where to wait, so there’s quite a lot of that been done and Marshalls at most supermarkets. it’s not always 100% possible to avoid walking past someone e.g. on pavements, next to a busy road so there is a tiny risk when walking past people. If you want no risk then stay at home, that’s not a flippant comment, people are going to have to make individual hard decisions.
personally I’m not worried about the odd person walking down the train aisle, but if you are then you have to consider your position as you are not going to be 100% protected.
yes being stuck on a train/tube is another risk you take on public transport, but if you’re young and healthy you would probably have mild symptoms, if you’re not or someone in your household is not then you need to think about staying at home.
for some people there will be some tough decisions.

theres a lot being done but it’s not 100%. Ive had a couple of inattentive people walk past me at close distance who weren’t in my peripheral vision e.g. came from behind. You aren’t going to avoid occasional infringements completely but there’s quite a lot in place and most people are abiding by i

[Deleted User]

I have got to return from my parents to my rented flat in London at some point before the end of the month.   I'll be taking the Bedford/Thameslink line to St Pancras.   What day of the week and what time do you think the trains will be quietest?  I have total flexibility about when to make the journey, just hoping for an empty as train as possible.   I was thinking Monday or Tuesday mid-afternoon, because there won't be many people travelling in to work at that time. 

lisyloo

I would have said Sunday afternoon/evening.