People should keep wearing masks on crowded trains, Shapps says
People should continue to wear masks on trains at rush hour after restrictions are lifted on 19 July, Grant Shapps said today.
Speaking to the BBC Today programme the transport secretary said that some train firms could make masks advisory during peak hours.
But with the government moving away from restrictions backed by law to an advice-based approach, it appears that it will be up to the firms to decide whether to make mask-wearing a condition of carriage.
“If you are the only person in a carriage and you are travelling at a time of day when no one else is around, there is not actually any great advantage [to wearing a mask]”, he said.
“If, on the other hand, you are stood right next to other people, then it makes perfect sense to have common sense and even rules in place.
“If you are in a crowded area, the advice will remain the same”, he added.
Transport for London (TfL) has already suggested that it would like to see the wearing of masks on public transport to continue after 19 July.
But yesterday TfL commissioner Andy Byford warned that the system would become a “shambles” unless the rules were legally enforceable.
Speaking to a webinar, Byford said: “We are looking to see what the National Rail does, because it would be kind of odd if you can come in on a mainline train to Charing Cross and not wear a mask, and then get on the Tube and have to. That won’t make things any easier for enforcement.
“Around 60-65 per cent of our customers say they feel more secure if everyone is wearing a mask. We should listen to our customers”, the Evening Standard reported Byford as saying.
“But equally I don’t want to create a situation where there is huge uncertainty and it becomes a bit of a shambles because we are being yelled at to enforce something which is not that easy to enforce without the backing of legislation.”