Masks on public transport: Patchwork policies lead to confusion

Unless exempt, passengers must wear a mask on Transport for London services

London is slowly opening back up after months of changing rules on lockdowns and social distancing. But the patchwork policy on wearing face coverings on different public transport services into and across London is leaving passengers annoyed and confused.

It is rush hour at Liverpool Street tube station and it is busy with commuters heading home.

There is a line of Transport for London (TfL) enforcement officers telling those without masks to put on a face covering. They are polite but firm.

Now and again people look very annoyed. Some don't have a mask and are told to go to Boots and buy one.

One man tells me he doesn't have to wear a mask on the trains so why does he have to on the Tube. He's angry at the situation and confused by the rules.

Another woman tells me that she thinks masks don't work and are "useless" before she traipses off to buy one.

Patchwork policies

Experts say masks can reduce the transmission of coronavirus.

But anyone who uses the Underground or buses will know lots of people are not wearing masks despite what the rules say.

Unless you have an exemption - the new rules mean TfL have made it a condition of carriage to wear a mask.

That means it is not a legal requirement and so they can't give out any fines. They can stop you from boarding a service or they can ask you to leave.

But on national rail services, it is only advisory that you wear a mask. That has led to a lot of confusion.

• Will mask-wearing become law again in England?

Latest figures suggest 77% of passengers wear a face covering

The TfL enforcement teams have been out every day since the rule change on 19 July. Since then officers have refused 223 people entry and asked 53 to leave TfL services.

Compare that to before the rule changes when it was a legal requirement to wear a mask.

Then TfL issued 4,365 fines. Out of those 1,285 people were prosecuted with 504 still waiting to go to court. The average fine was £754.

TfL customer research found that from 22 August to 18 September 77% of customers claimed to wear a mask on every journey - down from 82% during the four weeks before.

The government hasn't ruled out making masks a legal requirement in the future if Covid-19 cases increase

Siwan Hayward, director of compliance at TfL said: "The vast majority of people that we stop, pull a mask out of their bag or their pocket and they'll do the right thing and put it on.

"There is a small selfish minority who refuse to wear face coverings. All we can do now is refuse entry or ask people to leave."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants the government to change the law.

Sadiq Khan says he is lobbying the government for extra help enforcing mask wearing on TfL services

Mr Khan said: "When I use the tube, I can't run away from the fact that more were wearing face masks when it was the law.

"And that's one of the reasons I was against moving the law.

"We continue to lobby the government to either make it a national requirement so we can use the police to enforce this and issue fines or to give us the powers with a bylaw.

"At the moment we're not getting the help from the government we need. As a consequence people who can't keep socially distanced and have to use public transport are taking a lottery with the chance of potentially catching the virus."

The government hasn't ruled out making masks a legal requirement in the future if Covid-19 cases increase.

But at the moment there does seem to be a lot of confusion among commuters that can lead to resentment at being asked to do something they don't have to do elsewhere.