Minster FM News
CORONAVIRUS - Trains are not for day trips
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Published by David Dunning at 2:34pm 11th June 2020. (Updated at 3:02pm 12th June 2020)
Face coverings will be mandatory on all trains and buses from Monday 15 June.
Coverings will help protect customers and staff from further spread of virus.
Only essential journeys should be made.
Essential journeys do not include shopping trips or days out.
Capacity on Northern's services down by as much as 85 percent due to social distancing.
Steve Hopkinson, Regional Director at Northern, said:
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“We all need to do our bit to help the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic and to help prevent the further spread of the virus.
Face coverings can reduce the risk to other people and by following the guidance we can all work to keep each other – customers and staff – as safe as possible.
It also important that customers take their face coverings with them at the end of their journey.
Even if masks are disposable, they shouldn’t be left on trains for cleaning staff to deal with.”
Northern is asking all passengers to be mindful and respectful of this fact and customers should not challenge others who are not able to wear a covering.
As well as asking people to wear face coverings, Northern is also reminding its customers that public transport should only be used if no other options are available.
Non-essential shops are set to reopen on 15 June, but this doesn’t mean non-essential journeys should be made by train.
He added:
“We completely understand that, with shops opening, people will want to get out and about, but they should only travel by train if their journey is essential, this does not include day trips and non-essential shopping.
Social distancing measures are still in place on our trains which means capacity on our services is reduced by as much as 85 per cent. We need to keep the spaces on our trains for those who have no other option such as key workers and those who can’t work from home
Those who do need to travel by train should follow a few simple steps; maintain social distancing where possible, wash hands before and after travel and, of course, wear a face covering.”
For full details check the Northern website or National Rail Enquiries.
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