This is why Yorkshire train commuters won't be forced to reserve a seat

A  'continental-style' compulsory seat reservation system on commuter trains across Yorkshire would be hard to achieve even though passenger numbers have fallen post-lockdown, according to the rail expert in charge of Northern services.

Richard George, the chairman of the Government’s public sector operator which now runs what used to be the Northern franchise, said forcing people to reserve a seat in advance to board a train was easier for long-distance operators like London North Eastern Railway.

He was asked today about the prospect by Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake as a possible means of easing the severe overcrowding seen on trains prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Mr George, who was Director of Transport for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, said the idea was looked at "from time to time". But he told an online meeting of strategic body Transport for the North: "It's certainly a possibility for long distance trains but much more difficult to put into effect on short distance."

He told northern transport leaders: "The reason it's not normally done is because even on long distance routes, there are usually commuter distance locations where people expect to just turn-up-and-go and turn-up-and-go doesn't work if you have got seat reservations.

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"It is an option for long distance travel, for shorter distances and commuter travel on journeys in and around metropolitan areas of the North, it would be much more difficult. There are no systems to do it and it would be much more difficult when you've got essentially turn-up-and-go services, because you need to know in advance when travelling."

Compulsory seat reservations for trains are common in parts of Europe, where long-distance trains in France, Italy and Spain already operate on an “all-reserved” basis.

Passengers get on a train in Leeds while wearing a protective face mask. Pic: PAPassengers get on a train in Leeds while wearing a protective face mask. Pic: PA
Passengers get on a train in Leeds while wearing a protective face mask. Pic: PA
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It comes after a recent report by Transport for the North's Rail North Committee raises the possibility of rail operators introducing reservation-only trains to limit the number of passengers using each service.

Since March 1 all Northern's trains have been operated by a company wholly owned by the Department of Transport and run by what Transport Secretary Grant Shapps calls “experienced railway managers”.

The service was taken into public hands after months of poor services for frustrated commuters, most notably in the aftermath of the botched introduction of a new timetable in 2018.

Mr George and his colleagues were given 100 days to come up with a plan to improve services, but he told the TfN meeting that the coronavirus pandemic "made anything remotely resembling a plan very difficult".

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He said: "We're in a position at the moment of a very unpredictable future. We can't predict the future currently, we can't know the affordability currently, we don't know the dynamics.

"Covid has made even the preparation of the budget at the moment extremely difficult. So we've not been able to produce a business plan in the way that I certainly envisaged at the beginning of March."

But he said efforts had been made to "get the basics right" to ensure a reliable delivery of services under what is now known as Northern Trains Limited (NTL).

Mr George said: "Although we've not been able to create a plan in the normal sense, I'm very pleased to report that NTL is already getting on with the actions to deliver on that.

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"So there's a revised management structure, a few new faces in it, extra train cleaning, improvements in staff accommodation, improved processes for planning and reliability, some additional staff numbers we think we need for additional greater resilience to the operation."