Great Western Railway warns public to avoid using the train this Bank Holiday weekend

Train operator GWR is urging customers to avoid train travel this Bank Holiday weekend to free up space for essential journeys and increase safety.

They want people to evaluate if their intended journey is really necessary and not to board for leisure purposes or for their daily exercise.

Social distancing guidance means that seats have been blocked off and trains can only carry about a tenth of the usual number of passengers. This significantly reduces capacity for safe travel on a service.

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The train operator has increased the number of services in accordance with the Government’s easement strategy, but only a fraction of travellers would be able to safely socially distance once on board even if GWR was to return to its pre-lockdown timetable.