THE pandemic has seen a vast drop in rail passenger journeys and if prepandemic service levels are to be maintained, it is essential that the number of travellers rises quickly as restrictions are reduced. It has been suggested by some that the operators should launch cheap fare offers to tempt the public back.
Forty years ago the country was in the grip of a severe economic depression and then the railways took initiatives to try to fill the trains, one such being the offer in late 1980 of £1 tickets for holders of Senior Citizen Railcards to travel anywhere in the country after 09.30.
The Railway Observer recorded the activities of one member who clocked up more than 6000 miles for the princely sum of £15. The person concerned was lucky in that they were based near central London. HSTs were starting to make their presence felt, and on the first two days he had reached Inverness via the East Coast route and returned to base via the West Coast line.
The next day trip was from Paddington to Penzance and return, with visits to Manchester and Exeter from Waterloo following. A more sedate day was had wandering around East Anglia but getting as far as Sheringham. Charing Cross to Ramsgate via Dover and Waterloo to Weymouth occupied the next two days.