With the regulations regarding "essential travel only" which was being used by various rail and bus companies since lockdown was introduced by the UK government to try and control the Coronavirus pandemic which was sweeping the globe, I opted to have a go and see what the "new normal" -  a term mostly coined by the media - was like. Now, since mid-June, it has been compulsory to wear a face covering (not necessarily a mask, but any thing that literally covers your mouth and nose), so in keeping with this, I took my London Underground themed mask, which I had recently purchased through Splash Maps, I would seriously recommend them as they are of good quality and well worth the money, plus they are washable too, and can be put with your regular laundry.

My journey today would start at Nuneaton Station, and my trip would be just under 20 miles in length on the hourly West Midlands Railway service to Leamington Spa, which today was one of the regular 2-coach Class 172 DMU's, WMR had procured 8 of these units from London Overground a couple of years ago, and indeed they have been a very welcome addition to the regional route between Nuneaton, Coventry and Leamington Spa, which prior to the Class 172's, was operated by a single coach Class 153 DMU, which was, in my opinion wholly inadequate.

Aiming for the 17:16 departure, I arrived in good time, and the social distancing measures have clearly been implemented, with marks on the floor, barriers in the ticket office, and the coffee shop on Platform 1 being shut, although since Derek's pleasant shop was closed a while back, I haven't bothered with the new establishment. Purchasing my ticket from the self service machine, as there was already a customer at the ticket office window.

Heading on Platform 1, my train was already there, which today was 172004, the timetable between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa allows for a more or less 35 minute turnaround at Nuneaton, whilst, owing to pathing constraints, about 10 minutes at Leamington Spa. Boarding the train at 17:05, I was the only customer on board, although as departure time crept up, several more passengers boarded, in fact there was the grand total of 7 passengers in my carriage as we departed, and 4 of those alighted at Bedworth.

The journey was easy going, as we called at Bermuda Park, Bedworth, Coventry Arena, Coventry, Kenilworth and finally Leamington Spa, although we met with delays around Kenilworth as a freightliner service was routed out in front of us from Kenilworth passing loop - the line between Coventry (Gibbet Hill Junction) and Leamington Spa (Milverton Junction) being single track apart from the aforementioned loop. Although Gibbet Hill - Kenilworth was always single track, between Kenilworth and Leamington, it was double track but rationalisation in 1977 seen it singled - maybe this trend could be reversed at some point in the future??.

Arriving into Leamington Spa just before 18:00, it was an ultra quick turnaround, the driver literally swapped ends and back to Nuneaton we went. Despite the lateness arriving, we were just one minute late leaving Leamington Spa, it was also pleasing to see a fair few people board at Leamington, and a quick observation seen a vast majority wearing face coverings, some very quirky ones too. This actually got me thinking that maybe we could embrace the current situation, and maybe the Train Operating Companies and even major retailers could run a competition for the best face covering, say maybe once a month, with a prize of say £50 Love2Shop gift card (which all major retailers accept) or maybe a weeks free travel on a particular TOC, in this case, West Midlands Trains.

After all, it would probably encourage people to wear them, and maybe even encourage people to create their own whacky designs.

Arriving back in Coventry, on time, most passengers alighted the train, and another good few boarded, again, as seen at Leamington Spa, most were wearing a face covering. Arriving into Nuneaton a good 2 minutes early, it gave me time to reflect on how things have changed, will it be temporary, or longer term?, who knows, I for one would like to see a return to normality in the future, although it seems to be heading that way, it's just a matter of time and patience. One thing which was clearly noticeable at Nuneaton was the lack of rail enthusiasts on the platforms. Now I'm not sure whether London NorthWestern Railway have put a temporary stop on them whilst the pandemic is ongoing  or not, maybe we'll see them again in the future.