Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has his Department made on deploying and promoting mobile and app technology to help rail passengers socially distance whilst travelling.

Rail operators are working hard to facilitate social distancing between passengers wherever possible, in line with Public Health England advice. Operators are providing information about train loadings on their website, allowing passengers to make informed choices, and are monitoring the number of passengers who board services. A free personalised messaging service, ‘Alert Me by Messenger’, is also available via the National Rail Enquiries (NRE) website. It provides real-time alerts on journey disruption and crowding. This helps passengers make safer travel choices, such as travelling off-peak where possible, and improves safety and efficiency on the rail network. Since June, the NRE service has sent around 3 million alerts.

People should seek to book tickets online wherever possible and to plan ahead, and operators are highlighting on their websites the services that are quieter or busier to enable travellers to make informed decisions.