Travel: Coronavirus

(asked on 30th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure that travel by air, road and rail networks run as smoothly as possible over the 2020 seasonal period; what steps he is taking to ensure that the public are adequately informed of any potential travel issues before they plan or commence their journeys; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Chris Heaton-Harris Portrait
Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This question was answered on 3rd December 2020

Today (3 December) the Government announced that it will be deploying a series of measures over the Christmas period to help people travel safely and minimise disruption as far as possible, including:

  • clearing 778 miles of roadworks,
  • ensuring over 95% of the rail network will be unaffected by engineering works,
  • lengthening trains and adding extra rail services,
  • and cutting ticket charges to help travellers with their journeys.

All transport operators have been asked to increase the clarity and regularity of communications with passengers/ users to help them plan their journeys, warn of any disruption and offer support.

We have also asked Sir Peter Hendy, Chair of Network Rail, to work alongside operators and officials to provide rigorous scrutiny of these plans.

We have submitted these plans to all colleagues in writing.


I am grateful to the entire transport sector, which has stepped up enormously throughout the course of this pandemic, and once again will rise to the challenge this Christmas

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