When lockdown emptied the UK’s trains and buses, their operators’ revenues collapsed. Now home working and cycling could become a permanent threat to their finances
A year ago, with the first coronavirus lockdown looming, passengers were warned to stay away from public transport. Now many are wondering whether that message can ever be reversed.
City centres in particular have been affected by the switch of huge numbers of office staff to working from home. This development threatens to permanently upend the model that has sustained the private rail system, and the coffers of cities that relied on train fare income.
