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UK passengers to be warned when trains are busy

26 August 2020 19:30 (UTC +04:00)

Train companies in the UK will try to manage passenger flows by warning people if a particular service is busy, APA reports citing BBC.

Some modern trains can monitor the weight load in carriages, allowing them to estimate the number of people on board. Companies have said they will share the data with passengers so they can avoid a specific train.

Rail passenger numbers are currently back to about one third of pre-pandemic levels, with the number of services set to increase in England and Wales on 7 September - in order to ease overcrowding when most schools return.

"The expectation is that the gradual increase we've had should continue," said one insider.

But what happens beyond the next few weeks "is not certain at all", they added.

The rail industry and government have a delicate balance to strike, and must weigh the desire to see a boost to ticket revenues post-pandemic against the risk to public health of travelling en masse.