When London was paralyzed when a confinement was decreed by the coronavirus a year ago, the “underground” continued to function because it was considered an essential service. It was the beginning of a traumatic experience for the employees of the London Underground train.
Joseph Cocks, a conductor for the Circle Line that circles the center of the city, said that “I could count on one hand the people getting on the train” in those days.
“Seeing that no one was there on a Monday morning at rush hour was shocking, surprising,” he said about a network launched in 1863 and known to Londoners as The Tube.
The fact that it continued to function was a sign that, even in the midst of a pandemic, the heart of London was still beating.
Plagues, fires, wars. London survived all of that. But I’ve never had a year like this. COVID-19 killed more than 15,000 Londoners and shook the foundations of one of the largest cities in the world.
In a city where almost half of the homes do not have a car, public transport drives the economy and social life. Before the confinement was decreed on March 23, 2020, some 5 million people traveled in the Tube daily. The map of the train network is an emblem of the city and a vital tool for residents and visitors.
When the confinement was decreed, people stayed at home, but the train continued to run and the fear of catching the virus spread among its employees.
“We didn’t know how serious the issue was,” Cocks said. “You heard that underground employees were contagious. We didn’t know how fast it was spreading or if we were safe. “
COVID-19 hit the London transport service hard. At least 89 employees of the service died from the virus, most of them bus drivers, whose death rate is three times the national average, according to University College London.
Roughly a third of the employees of the transport service are from an ethnic minority, largely because many inhabitants of the former British colonies came to the United Kingdom after World War II to reinforce a small workforce.
Brian Woodhead, director of underground consumer services, says the network moved quickly to protect staff and passengers. The use of face masks is mandatory, hand sanitizer is plentiful, escalator handles are sprayed with virus-killing UV rays, and a one-way system reduces the concentration of too many people on the sidewalks. Bus drivers are isolated in cabins.
“Under the current circumstances, I think the Tube is safe,” Woodhead said.
He notes that a recent study by Imperial College London, which analyzed the presence of the virus on underground surfaces and air, found nothing.
This is partly due to people like Ivelina Dimitrova, who oversees 20 members of the cleaning staff at King’s Cross Station. She and her people, mostly immigrants from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, constantly spray surfaces with hospital disinfectants.
“We had to change our work routine, to do it faster” when the virus hit, Dimitrova said. He added that they were scared of the possibility of getting infected. “Now we have high morale because we do what we have to do to avoid taking risks.”
Passengers, who previously did not notice the cleaning staff, now sometimes stop and thank them.
The pandemic raises questions about the future of the world’s oldest subway network. The Tube depends more than anything on ticket sales and is facing a crisis today. The number of passengers was reduced to 4% from pre-pandemic levels in the first moments. Today it is approximately 25%.
The government continues to recommend that anyone who can work from home, do so, and take the Tube only in case of a greater need.
Woodhead said he expects the number of passengers to increase, but “it is not known if it will increase in 18 months or 36.”
The pandemic, it should be noted, may have changed the habits of many people and it is possible that, once the virus is over, many will continue to walk and move around on bicycles.
The official, however, is convinced that the Tube will be an essential part of the recovery of London.
“It is too embedded in the infrastructure of the city and in the way London works,” he said.
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