Sadiq Khan urges Londoners to stay off Tube during coronavirus lockdown and warns 'more lives will be lost' if rules ignored

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Ellena Cruse24 March 2020

The Mayor of London has warned "more lives will be lost" unless the public stops "all non-essential travel" during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sadiq Khan took to social media to warn the public to listen to the government and stay at home unless they are a key worker or need to travel for urgent reasons.

It came as travellers reported packed carriages on the London Underground, one day after Boris Johnson ordered the nation to only leave their homes in specific circumstances .

A Tube driver also spoke out against non-essential journeys and said he will be forced to self-isolate to protect his family if the overcrowding continues.

Commuters pack on to a train in London amid the coronavirus epidemic
Richard Gray

Mr Khan said on Twitter: “I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now.

“Employers: please support your staff to work from home unless it's absolutely necessary.

“Ignoring these rules means more lives lost.”

Transport for London - which is chaired by Mr Khan - has been criticised for running fewer trains than normal, which Londoners say is forcing commuters to squeeze into to carriages and defy social distancing rules.

TfL has suspended the Circle line and Waterloo & City line, and reduced frequencies on other parts of the Tube network. Bus services have also been cut.

Mr Khan added: "Growing numbers of TfL staff are off sick or self-isolating: we cannot run more services than we currently are.

“If you have to go to work, please don’t travel at rush hour - go at different times to keep contact to a minimum.”

Responding to the comments one user said: “You need to do more. The pictures of the crowded tubes are heartbreaking.

"You know that is a serious health issue and you know that this situation is risking those people’s healths and many others. Do it now."

Another added: “Put the service level back to normal. People who NEED to use the tube are squashed in too closely on reduced service. It's not working.”

One user said: “There are humans driving these trains risking their lives. The reduction in service is because there are sick isolating members of staff unable to come to work!!

"The problem lies with the enforcement not being strong enough of who can travel. Should be key workers only."

Nurse Julia Harris, who commutes to work at Imperial College NHS Trust, said she had left earlier and changed her route in a bid to avoid crowds but still found services busy.

She said: “Seats on the train all had at least one person so people needed to stand, and the District line was busy as well. I still don’t think things have improved as a large amount of people are commuting early in the morning.

“It is concerning because I have to come to work. The choice isn’t there and my commute is quite long. I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in the hospital.”

Ms Harris said the reduction in TfL services meant “you now have more people waiting and piling onto the Tubes and trains”.

“The issue is key workers aren’t just health professionals – I think we under-estimated how many people are needed to keep things running.”

Nicola Smith, who works at a central London hospital, said she was “risking my health” to commute by Tube because it was so busy.

She called on TfL to increase services or the Prime Minister to “start policing who’s getting on”.

Nurse Danielle Tiplady posted on Twitter: “Being on the Tube is making me feel uneasy. It is too busy (and) there is no space for social distancing.”

Tube driver Richard Gray has been operating trains for the last two years and said he was furious at the number of people who were still hell-bent on using public transport.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: "I am angry and furious. I have been coming to work to be part of the key work team for London, but to see it this packed is very frustrating.

"At work we are all sitting two metres apart, but to get into the job it is so crowded. I live with my dad and have parents that have underlying health conditions - if this continues I will have to shield myself from this to protect them and other drivers will have to do the same, meaning the service will be reduced further."

The 42-year-old said Mr Johnson needs to do more to enforce social distancing.

"I know some of the people on the Tube are key workers, but there are lots of builders and office workers that don't need to be there," he added. "The prime minister needs to go further with locking it down."

Finn Brennan, district organiser for train drivers’ union Aslef, said: “Getting lots of reports of early trains being full on the Underground.

“If the Government doesn’t shut construction sites and pay self-employment, people will die."

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