Corona Virus - Railway reopening poll

And can be cheaper than the equivalent PDQ machine, depending on the monthly fees from the bank - I know that the church I'm involved with can afford to use iZettle but could never justify a proper PDQ machine. But you still have the issue - which will be highly relevant to most heritage railways - that most forms of contactless payment are capped, with the exception of Apple Pay, and will therefore require at the least use of a PIN pad.

 

A highly profitable line in the South West has, apparently, over the last few years had most of its bookings pre-booked on-line.
That ensures a quieter booking office, a more reliable source of information regarding the numbers hoping to travel and other benefits such as money in the bank.
Some of the 19th. century methods have suddenly become cumbersome if not outdated in present times. I know purists welcome older ways, but remember much of the coal used and carried by 19th. century railways was possible due to it being a child labour intensive industry.

 

Google/Android Pay doesn't have a limit either. The contactless limit is currently £45, up from £30 - the lower limit should be sufficient for most buffet car purchases anyway.

 

In the context of the original heading I can imagine until (if) things become normal again, all seats will be pre-booked and paid for on line. Apart from the cash problem it will enable distancing on trains.

 

I read, on another place, that a well known pub chain has plans for when they re-open. Given their very large number of outlets I wonder if their plans might be some sort of guide or blueprint for others. The plans seem quite intensive and realistic.

 

Correction noted - I’d understood it to be subject to the same limits.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Clearly, if railways want to continue as viable businesses, they have to think out of the box, pre booking, on line, and contactless payment for refreshments is one option, as long as they make their break even costs, then at least they are not making a loss, they can also ask for donations, etc as people exit things like a small change bin, and signage, asking for donations, perhaps more " package " type deals, to get people to pay in advance , for instance, buy now, travel in August, and we will give you a £30 voucher to spend on on train food and drinks, for a family of 4, or a set picnic basket for you to enjoy at your seat, this sort of thing can easily be done, in house, perhaps, push the at your seat option more. if people enjoy their day, and the food is good quality, who knows, they might even donate the cost of that free food At Stations, with a public crossing, it should be possible to put in a one way system in via booking office, out via book shop , etc, to maximise the profit you can extract,

 

It's set up to allow multiple votes. Of course, with four 'yes' options this will skew the results if people click on all four of those, while others only have two 'no' options to consider. So you can't actually use this poll to draw any conclusions whatsoever.

I voted for 'yes if pre-booked' but I would not bother if I had to wear a mask or dance around other people 2m away, I'd just wait. This is partly influenced by the fact that I have a 2 year old and there is no way she will wear a mask for more than 5 seconds; if infection levels are still such that masks and social distancing are still the norm, I wouldn't feel safe to expose her to the risk. The other factor is my wife of course who has not filled in the poll at all and would probably be happy to find an excuse to avoid another train ride. So given just my single response, there is already a good dollop of doubt in the outcome. I expect others will have gone through similar thought processes.

The truth is the situation is changing almost daily; in two months from now this could be receding into memory or we could be back in full lockdown, and nobody really knows.

 

Ancillary sales for sure, but I was thinking of ticket sales.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

You can tick multiple options, so can tick 4 yes boxes. Ruling out the illogicality of clicking both yes and no that gives no a 36% stake 27.8% + 8.7%

Patrick


Yes 46 vote(s) 40.0%

Yes and I'm happy to pay a bit more to cover social distancing loss of revenue 45 vote(s) 39.1%

Yes , also happy to wear a mask if needed 42 vote(s) 36.5%

Yes , Happy to pre-book tickets so the railways know and can manage volumes 38 vote(s) 33.0%

No , I'd rather wait longer 32 vote(s) 27.8%

No , medical guidance for me is to self isolate 10 vote(s) 8.7%