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People returning to work on Wednesday with no choice but to use public transportation are recommended to use face covers and stay away from other passengers, as ministers were warned that they had not done enough to maintain social distancing on trains and buses.
As part of the plan to ease the blockage of the coronavirus in England, the government released a guide on Tuesday advising people who are unable to work from home to walk, bike or drive, if possible.
Those who had to use public transport were urged to try to observe the 2m social distancing rules, wear a mask, use contactless payments and avoid rush hours.
The official guide also suggested aiming to “start or end your journey using a station or means of transportation that you know is quieter or more direct,” walking part of the journey.
In cases where passengers cannot avoid close contact with others on trains or buses, the government said that people should “try to get away from other people and keep the time they spend around others as short as possible.”
Grant Shapps, transportation secretary, told parliamentarians that social distancing rules meant that capacity on public transportation would be only 10% of normal levels, so it is “crucial” to ensure that demand stays as long as possible. low possible.
“We continue to ask people to only go to work if they cannot do their work from home. This is because even when transportation begins to return to full service, the two-meter distance rule will only leave effective capacity for one in 10 passengers overall, “he said.
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Labor parliamentary trade unionists and opponents criticized the guidance for failing to answer the “fundamental question” of how it would prevent a system operating at enormously reduced capacity from being overwhelmed. They warned that it could put staff and passengers at risk.
Indications of renewed overcrowding on the London Underground emerged Monday following Boris Johnson’s speech on Sunday night when the prime minister suggested that people should return to work immediately.
Jim McMahon, shadow transportation secretary, said those scenes “were not surprising when he ordered a 12-hour return to work without official guidance on how workers can stay safe and fail to take appropriate action to cope on demand. ” That was irresponsible and wrong. “
Manuel Cortés of the TSSA union, which represents the box office staff on the London Underground, warned that “all bets are off” if public transport levels rise significantly and said that only key workers should be able to travel again.
“If it gets crowded and it’s dangerous, we want the stations closed, and if that doesn’t happen, we will tell our members to get out of danger and go to a safe place that will lead to the stations closing.” . . We will do whatever it takes to keep our members safe. “
Len McCluskey, secretary general of the Unite union, welcomed the council, but said workers should not be pressured “to endanger themselves and others by crowding on buses, trains or tubes.”
“Safe workplaces and safe commute to work must go hand in hand in the strategy to overcome this disease. Together, they are absolutely crucial to building broader public confidence that it is right and safe to revive the economy, which we all want to happen to keep people working and making money, ”he said.
Bus drivers are among the frontline workers most exposed to the coronavirus with one of the highest death rates in the country, according to official data released this week.
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Shapps said Tuesday that 42 Transport for London employees had died from Covid-19. It was unclear if this was directly related to his work.
Darren Shirley, executive director of Campaign for Better Transport, an advocacy group, warned that operators “would not be adequately prepared” and that capacity would still have to be severely limited if social distancing measures could be applied.
He said increasing capacity safely would require weeks of planning and major logistical challenges, such as queuing socially distant at stations, creating bicycle storage for an increase in cycling, or dealing with the crowds and delays at bus stops that would result of a restricted number of passengers.
Over the weekend, Shapps announced a £ 2 billion investment to improve cycling infrastructure and wider pavements for pedestrians.
