The COVID pandemic has changed so many things - and the railways are no exception.
First came the exodus away from train travel, as we were all told to work from home. Then came the collapse of the privatised railway, and an injection of many billions of pounds in Government support to keep the trains running for key workers.
More than two years on, and passengers have been returning to the railways, although many commuters are still missing, preferring instead to stay at home or go by car.
What is now emerging is that the recovery in rail travel is being led through big increases in leisure travel across the network. Indeed, the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, which created Great British Railways, suggested that there should be a major effort to develop rail’s leisure market further, to help to attract new passengers to the railways.
There’s no mention of repurposing train carriages to cater for new types of leisure markets, such as more family-friendly areas, but the announcement hasn’t gone unnoticed by a new pressure group, the Campaign for Family-Friendly Trains. It is tapping into the latest trend for more rail-based leisure travel and is calling for improvements to make journeys for families, especially those with pushchairs, much more enjoyable and less stressful.
The campaign started after one of its founders got stuck in the vestibule of a long-distance train, and was forced to sit on the floor to remain close to his sleeping toddler in a pushchair. He then tweeted about his experience and found many others had been suffering similar nightmare journeys. They included Joe Thomas, now spokesman for the campaign.
A lawyer and dad living in east London, Thomas says: “My unfortunate experience was going to Chepstow, in Wales. Young children come with an awful lot of paraphernalia. You normally have bag upon bag upon bag! We were lugging all of this onto one of Great Western Railway’s new inter-city trains and there was absolutely nowhere to put the pram. The train was full of rugby fans heading for a Six Nations match, and I was just getting in everyone’s way.
“It just struck me as bonkers that earlier in the day, travelling on the busy Victoria Line in London, there was plenty of space for the pram. But there was no equivalent for our holiday trip down to the South West.”
Instead of tweeting about his journey, Thomas emailed GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood. That email resulted in a meeting with the company. Campaign members had done their research and came equipped with best-practice examples from around the world.
Thomas says: “They really got it, and the fact that going down to places like Cornwall was a really family-orientated trip. But they were realistic because the convoluted deal that procured their new trains meant that they didn’t specify them. That was done by the Department for Transport, which just went for maximum capacity. It was pre-COVID and the only thing that mattered was bums on seats.”
Although there was little that could be done overnight, GWR did seem interested in the campaign and the idea of helping to improve things for families travelling on their trains. Since then, Thomas and colleagues have had meetings and discussions with LNER, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, ScotRail, CrossCountry, the Rail Delivery Group, and even some train manufacturers.
The group effectively wants to see existing carriages repurposed, and it has a list of main requests - including dedicated spaces for unfolded prams on trains; an extension of seat reservations to include space for unfolded prams; clean and spacious toilets with toddler seats; an extension of passenger assistance to include families with young children; and level access between train, platform and station entrance.
In May, the group published a ‘scorecard’ designed to rate train operators from the perspective of passengers travelling with young children. It assessed 23 companies on the availability of dedicated space for unfolded pushchairs, step-free access, level boarding and assistance available for boarding the train, and the accessibility and quality of information available for families.
Only five companies - Transport for London, c2c, LNER, Merseyrail and Govia Thameslink Railway - scored above two out of eight points.
Thomas explains: “We wanted to lay down a marker and say: this is the situation as of 2022, what’s the situation going to be like in the future? The scorecards will ensure that at least there is a record of what things are like, and hopefully there will be a bit of friendly competition between train operators.”
The scorecard exercise, according to the campaign, appears to suggest that the majority of train operating companies are not taking the issue of family-friendly travel seriously.
However, a small number of companies - particularly TfL, Transport for Wales, Merseyrail and LNER - indicated that they were currently discussing the needs of families travelling with young children, and aiming to find solutions in the design of newer trains and through additional services.
So, why can’t carriages on trains be more family-friendly?
Some have suggested that the Department for Transport might be hampering the innovation process, by being over-prescriptive when it comes to the layout of carriages. There clearly is an issue related to the differing uses of rolling stock - trains that are suitable for families off-peak must also be suitable for commuters at the busiest times of the day.
A DfT spokesman said: “We do not stipulate the number of seats or the amount of standing that must be available in each carriage. The interior design and layout of trains is a matter for the train operators.”
However, the spokesman did admit that when it came to some of the newer rolling stock orders, DfT did get more involved: “DfT led the procurement of Thameslink Class 700 and InterCity Express Class 800/801 carriages, and stipulation in this instance is an exception given that it is taxpayers who pay for these trains. We must ensure that operators procure trains that deliver for both taxpayers and passengers alike.”
Rolling stock leasing companies would also make the point that trains are often cascaded down to other train operators, making standard seating configurations often preferable. But if that means it doesn’t work for all passengers, there’s a risk they will be alienated for a long time.
As Ian Wright, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Transport Focus, puts it: “Rolling stock lasts for a long time, so you need to be careful what you’re baking in. It will be there for decades, unless you go for a major refit.”
