Rail Disruption in the UK: How commuters can seek alternative travel

Last month saw huge timetable changes across Northern and Govia Thameslink Railway services, affecting customers from London and the South East to Newcastle, Nottingham, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Affected railway stations included:

  • Govia Thameslink Railway
  • London Overground
  • South western railway
  • South eastern

Despite a disrupted service, the office of Rail and Road[1], claims that the usage of these train lines is on the increase:

stats passengers

As our population increases, so does the need for transport. Liftshare loves that the use of public transport is growing, but when disruption happens in largely populated areas, people are often forced to take to the roads.

In 2017 there were 37.7 million vehicles licensed for use on the road in Great Britain at the end of the year[2], with a vast majority of those having empty passenger seats. The possibility for sharing your commute with someone else is huge. Liftshare has a mission to fill those empty seats and take 1 billion miles off UK roads by 2020. We want to help decrease congestion, reduce the vast amount of CO2 being pumped into the air by commuters every day and help our members have a happier commute.

So next time the train line is disrupted, why not consider sharing your car journey instead?

Ali Clabburn, CEO of Liftshare, said: “Whenever there is disruption with train services or prices jump up, we see people turn to Liftshare as it’s the common sense alternative and sometimes sharing a lift is the only affordable option for them.”

Laura Watling, Liftshare’s Marketing and Membership Manager, said “Liftshare is a fantastic alternative to public transport as it is another sustainable solution. On average, our member’s sharing a regular journey save £1000 per year, so it is a purse-friendly alternative to driving alone.”

train

With the rail lines being managed by several different companies across the UK and budgets cuts happening all the time, it is unknown when disruption to the commute will strike. By adding your journey to Liftshare, there is always an alternative when you need it. Liftshare is completely flexible, so when the trains are back up and running members can hide their journey until it’s required again.

How to hide/unhide your journey

The Liftshare service is free to use, and with over 600,000 members, finding a match with another person travelling in your direction is more likely than you think!

Has Liftshare helped you on your travels? We love to hear our member stories, send us yours on Facebook or Twitter.

 

[1] http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/popular-statistics#passenger-journeys

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2017

Author Sarah Roberts

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