Exactly a
week ago I took
my first tentative steps back towards using
public transport. I did it in
style, as the day involved two bus journeys and one by rail. The purpose behind
these journeys was to deposit me at the starting point of my
North Downs Walk, and then
return me home from the end point. They were my first forays into the world of bus
and train travel since early
March, and represented a welcome return to some
semblance of normality.
Except it wasn’t completely normal due to the fact that, in
common with my fellow passengers, I had to wear a mask. Now on both bus
journeys there was only one other passenger apart from me, and with the driver tucked
safely away behind a plastic screen, where was the danger? The other passenger
was sat several rows behind me as well, but rules are rules, I suppose, even if
they are nothing more than pandering to the Mumsnet brigade.
My rail journey was somewhat different, as the train was more
crowded that I expected. Even so there was plenty of room for “social
distancing.” Not all passengers were wearing masks though, and it is in situations
such as this that covering one’s face might have made a difference. The
majority of the culprits were in the under twenty age bracket, with a group of young
girls wearing not much more than a combination of cropped top and skimpy shorts, the
worst offenders. (Why do I keep running into females with a minimalist sense of
dress?)
The law is quite clear that
face-masks MUST be worn at all
times whilst on the train, but with no-one present to enforce this
ruling, it is little wonder that travellers
are ignoring it. The other concern of course, is that with no rail staff on
hand to check on mask compliance, ticket checks and/or sales are not taking place.
I personally don’t blame rail staff for this, especially
given guidelines on social distancing etc. Also, having witnessed past
encounters between fare dodgers and revenue staff, I know that these situations
can become quite confrontational. You can imagine, some pimply yoof, barely
able to string a sentence together, threatening to cough or, worse, spit at a
hapless guard or ticket inspector, so in the meantime the railways are missing
out on even more revenue.
Passenger numbers are running at a fraction of what they
were pre-lockdown and whilst the government’s
“magic money tree” has come to
the rescue, it is an unsustainable situation, even medium term. As part of their
“scare the public into staying at home” campaign, the
UK government actively discouraging
travel on public transport. Anyone attempting to buy a ticket, even online, was
faced with a series of question’s asking if their journey was really necessary and
telling them to stay at home. The travelling public were encouraged to use their
own, private cars instead; something that goes against the stated policy of all
political parties.
Returning to happier times, the last time I used public transport was on 6th
March, when I travelled up to Burton-on-Trent, to join members of the Beer and
Pubs Forum on a pub-crawl of Britain’s premier brewing town. Both outward and
return journeys involved two changes of train, and a cross London trip by
Underground.
Looking back, I was a little wary at the time, as
Coronavirus
had already started spreading within the
UK. At one point, I even considered avoiding
the
Underground and walking between
Charing Cross and
Marylebone
stations, as I would be travelling at the start of the morning rush-hour.
Because I had pre-booked tickets, timed to specific trains, there
wasn't sufficient time to do this and, as it happened the tube wasn’t too crowded, but I did
change carriages on the outward journey from Marylebone to Birmingham Moor
Street. This was due to a person sitting a few seats behind me, coughing his
lungs up.
Summing up, I enjoyed last Friday’s bus and train journeys
and the sense of freedom that went with them. Any lingering doubts as to the
safety of this were soon dispelled and I was able to assuage the fears of
Mrs
PBT’s that I was risking my own health as
well as that of the rest of the family.
The bus journey was particularly enjoyable, as the bus
followed a different route to that which I would normally have taken. There was
a bonus too, at Sevenoaks bus station, in the presence of a café that wasn’t
just open, but one where customers were allowed to sit inside and enjoy a
coffee! The breakfast options also looked tempting, as well as being very
keenly priced. With my bus pass due next April, I envisage making a lot
more bus journeys, especially if I can combine them with the odd pub visit!