We’re helping you use the railway confidently – with a range of measures to keep you safe during the pandemic.
They include extra staff to help guide you through stations, and vending machines at Britain’s biggest stations, where you can buy face coverings and hand sanitiser.
We’ve worked hard to keep railway stations and facilities in the most hygienic and best possible condition for everyone using stations – and staff – since the start of the pandemic.
We’ve carried out extra deep cleans on top of our regular cleaning regimes and have used sanitiser and anti-viral treatments on common touch-point areas like doors and handrails.
The number of station staff has also increased to give you information, encourage you to wear face coverings and help you travel safely.
In fact, we have deployed almost two and a half times the number of station staff than before the pandemic, and more than twice as many additional staff compared with the 2012 London Olympics.
If you or the people you live with have symptoms of covid-19 (coronavirus) or are self-isolating, you should stay at home.
For the latest travel advice visit National Rail Enquiries.
Other measures to help keep passengers safe include:
- Vending machines installed at the railway stations directly managed by Network Rail staff – 20 of the biggest stations in the country, including London Waterloo, London King’s Cross and Birmingham New Street – so you can buy face coverings, gloves, anti-bacterial wet wipes and hand sanitiser
- 21-day cycle of Zoono – an anti-viral treatment that protects surfaces for up to 30 days – to all touch point and hygiene areas, and additional touch-point cleaning no less than four-hourly on a continuous cycle, guarding against risk of contamination
- One-way systems and floor stickers installed to help you navigate stations in a controlled way
- 250 hand sanitiser stations introduced at managed stations
- Queuing systems to limit the number of people in and out of toilets where necessary
- Cubicles, urinals, sinks and dryers marked as out of use, and new signage installed, to maintain social distancing
- Seating in stations and waiting rooms altered to support social distancing
We’re reminding you to take the following steps:
- Wear a face covering for the duration of your journey unless you are exempt – for example, young children, people with visible or hidden disabilities and those with breathing difficulties
- Maintain a distance from others wherever possible
- Avoid peak times and travel at quieter periods if you can
- Maintain good hand hygiene.
Gallery: station staff and social distancing measures during the pandemic
Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “I would like to thank passengers for following Government advice over the last few months. By only travelling if absolutely necessary, you have helped us to operate a reliable service for critical workers – such as doctors, nurses, carers and supermarket workers – who have needed to travel, and to keep the country connected by moving goods such as food and medicine by rail freight.
“Now, as lockdown continues to ease and the nation turns towards recovering from this pandemic, I look forward to welcoming more people back to the railway. We have significantly stepped up cleaning regimes and made sure there are more staff on hand to help with information so you can travel safely.”
Read more:
GOV.UK guidance on safer travel for passengers