80% wear face masks on Tube as shops reopen

Face coverings on public transport are mandatory in England from yesterday (Monday 15 June), under new rules introduced as lockdown eases.

And TfL said there was high compliance in the city – with an estimated 80 per cent of bus user and up to 90 per cent of Tube passengers covering up.

A spokesperson said the network is “very pleased at the high level of compliance” on the first day the new law is in force.

British Transport Police, Metropolitan Police officers and TfL enforcement staff are at stations – but will not yet be handing out fines or stopping people from travelling, they said.

Fines will be a “last resort” after a “bedding in period”, the spokesperson added.

Emerging scientific evidence suggests masks do not protect the wearer from catching coronavirus – but they can stop those with the disease passing it to others.

Anyone with Covid-19 symptoms must self-isolate at home for seven days – but masks could prevent those who have the virus but are showing no symptoms from spreading it.

England’s new travel law came into force as high street shops, department stores and shopping centres began to reopen yesterday.

In London, Tube and bus use has already begun to rise from lockdown lows – though TfL is still asking passengers to avoid its network except for essential journeys.

But Deputy Mayor for Transport Heidi Alexander said there has been “more of a trickle back to the Tube network than a surge”.

Tube use is up from a low of five per cent of normal journeys to between 10 and 12 per cent last week, she told the London Assembly’s transport commitee.

With some buses still not charging passengers, data for bus use is less reliable – but TfL estimates passenger numbers are up from a low of 15 per cent  to between 25 and 30 per cent of normal levels now.

And despite shops reopening, those figures from last week were “replicated again” on Monday morning, Ms Alexander said.