Coronavirus: TfL crackdown on passengers not wearing masks

Currently passengers face fines for not wearing a face covering on the London Underground network

Since June, it has been mandatory for people to wear masks on public transport in the capital. Despite soaring coronavirus infection rates across London, there are still some passengers refusing to wear a face covering.

To combat the minority of passengers who refuse to wear masks, Transport for London (TfL) has increased its policing across its network through a squad of 500 enforcement officers.

It is a scheme which runs separately to patrols carried out on trains by British Transport Police (BTP) officers.

TfL's teams wait at bus stops and when a bus comes in they stop passengers who are not wearing masks.

Fines start at £200 and escalate for a repeat offence to a maximum of £6,400.

People have been told to work from home unless travel is essential

So far, TfL says 9,300 passengers have been prevented from boarding, 2,100 have been ejected from services and 1,700 fines have been given out.

TfL's commissioner Andy Byford told me it was time people stepped up and took responsibility for their actions and no one could pretend they do not know about the laws aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus.

He did concede TfL still does not have enough enforcement staff to police every service.

Recently I spoke to a number of bus drivers who say the enforcement on mask wearing on their vehicles is non-existent.

They also told me about the abuse they get when people are confronted and refuse to wear a mask.

So, this week I went out with TfL's enforcement teams.

More than 11,000 Londoners are known to have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic

They are targeting particular areas where bus drivers have told them there is a problem.

Operations are carried out at stations with low compliance. Bus stops at Victoria, Brixton and Stratford are among the spots being targeted.

The problem is these operations are very labour intensive as they have to check if the person says they have a medical exemption from wearing a mask and that takes time.

It is important to emphasise most people do wear a mask and not wearing one has become socially unacceptable for most.

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While I was with the team I saw them take the details of one person and give a warning to another. They also checked with another passenger who did have an exemption.

London remains in a lockdown and for the time being Siwan Hayward, the director of TfL's compliance and policing operations, told me those who travel need a "legitimate reason" for doing so.

"Wearing face coverings, unless exempt, has been mandatory for seven months now," she said.

"We continue to communicate the requirement in stations, on platforms and on [bus] services, so there really is no excuse for not wearing one properly for your entire journey when travelling on our network.

"London is at a critical point in this pandemic and this is no time to be complacent with the measures we take to protect ourselves and others."

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