The coronavirus has had a massive impact on travel demand, and transport operators are feeling the pinch
It’s difficult to know where to start.
The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic quite possibly represents the worst crisis since the second world war. It’s clearly an extremely serious situation, although it’s important to maintain calm and sober minds.
The media frenzy can scare people, precisely the opposite of what is required from a responsible press.
I’m loathe to say it, but the good news is that the vast majority of people who contract the virus do recover, although I know that’s of absolutely no comfort to those who are elderly or with pre-existing health conditions – or to their friends and families.
Impact on economy
The economic impact will be huge. Despite the support package announced by the government I worry especially for those small– and medium–sized businesses which rely on a steady flow of business and customers each and every day.
I worry too for our transport operators who are witnessing a significant decline in demand, and I can well imagine that many coach operators, a sector dominated by small companies with just a few coaches, will have seen demand evaporate.
Our transport operators are going to need a huge cash injection to survive. When Rishi Sunak was unexpectedly appointed Chancellor in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, he couldn’t possibly have expected to be at the centre of such an economic crisis as this within weeks of taking on the job.
Lockdown
As I write, the word is that London will be locked down. It will become a ghost town. Indeed, it started to look that way last week anyway – I was in Canary Wharf the other day which is normally a seething mass of humanity.
It was deserted.
Bars and restaurants were near empty. Quite what the world will look like when we are through this, goodness knows.
With many people now working from home it wouldn’t surprise me if company owners and bosses come to a conclusion that if their operations can function with a large part of their work force working remotely, then the amount of expensive office space can be significantly reduced, with a material proportion of the workforce working from home on a rota basis.
Still, in a period of bad news and anxiety there is always a cloud with a silver lining. When China went into lockdown, the pollution levels in its major towns and cities reduced significantly.
That won’t last once business returns to normal and its factories fire up again, but amongst all the doom and gloom at least that’s something to smile about.
This is a huge test of leadership for our government and the opposition parties – so it was a touch disappointing to see Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonell make some fairly cheap political points about the government’s response to the crisis last week.
This is not a time for party politics, and I hope the opposition parties respond accordingly. Thankfully there are now signs that party politics is indeed being suspended for the time being.
Keep well.
