A RAIL operator will be reducing its trains from Monday due to the number of staff affected by Covid-19.

c2c is reducing its trains from Monday as a direct result of the second wave of the virus and the impact on staff.

The firm said "a growing number" of operational staff are unavailable to work because of confirmed Covid cases, self-isolation requirements or shielding.

It has also had a significant reduction in passenger demand at c2c since the start of the second national lockdown.

In October, the number of daily travellers had risen to a high of 42 per cent of pre-Covid passenger levels. By last week that figure had fallen back again, down to 30 per cent.

The new timetable will ensure that c2c’s capacity and resources are targeted at the current times of highest customer demand:

  • Early morning services, which are now busier than late-morning trains. In particular it will be increasing capacity on the earliest trains of the day 
  • Late-afternoon trains, as these are now typically busier than services leaving London after 6pm
  • School trains to Southend in the morning peak, with five successive 12-car trains now arriving in Southend between 07.20am and 08.40am
  • The frequency of off-peak and late-night services is being reduced more heavily, as these trains now have the lowest customer demand. However these trains will be running as 8-carriage services rather than the usual four-carriage trains, to maximise the space available onboard.

c2c Managing Director Ben Ackroyd said: “Like all businesses, coronavirus has affected our staff availability and we simply can’t deliver our current timetable reliably any more.

"Passenger demand has also fallen significantly in the past fortnight. Therefore we are introducing a more sustainable and resilient timetable, which our customers can rely on because short-notice cancellations will be less likely.

“We remain absolutely committed to providing passengers who are still travelling with a reliable service they can depend on. As we have throughout this year, we will monitor passenger numbers closely in the coming weeks.

"If passenger demand increases, and we have sufficient resources to deliver changes reliably, we won’t hesitate to take action.”

The new timetable is available here.