Councillors want more fines for Metrolink passengers not wearing masks

Metrolink bosses have been urged to hand out more fines to people not wearing face coverings instead of ‘babysitting’ passengers by handing masks out.

Face coverings have been mandatory on public transport since the middle of June as part of measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

But councillors are still receiving complaints from constituents who are ‘sick to death’ about Metrolink users ignoring the rules.

Most passengers are wearing face coverings, with compliance levels sitting at an average of 86 per cent at the morning peak and around 81 per cent in the evening peak.

This is a significant improvement on figures reported in the summer, when only 70 per cent of people had their faces covered on the morning peak – and just 60 per cent later in the day.

Metrolink staff are asked to remind passengers of the rules, hand out masks at busy stops and check if passengers are exempt from wearing one before taking further action.

This can include preventing a non-compliant passenger from boarding the tram or issuing a £100 on-the-spot fine.

But Rochdale councillor Phil Burke told a meeting of the Greater Manchester transport committee that he wants enforcement to be stepped up against the persistent minority.

The Labour councillor said on Friday (12 December): “We’re still getting issues with constituents complaining about the amount of people travelling on Metrolink not wearing face masks.

“Do you think it’s wise to keep babysitting passengers by giving face masks out? They’ve had long enough to get their own; this has been going on since March.

“These people should really be prosecuted by being given a fixed penalty notice.”

Concerns around compliance on the Rochdale via Oldham Metrolink, as well as stops in Manchester city centre, have been raised throughout the pandemic.

In July around 2,400 masks were handed out  during a week of action conducted by Metrolink, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Greater Manchester Police as part of the TravelSafe partnership.

But Councillor Howard Sykes, leader of Oldham council’s Liberal Democrats, said: “There comes a point when you have to give up on ever educating people.

“People who follow the guidelines have no choice due to their working arrangements but to use the tram, and they want to see us taking action.

“I know I speak for other colleagues regardless of what political affiliation we have, and our ordinary Metrolink travelling public who are absolutely sick to death.

“For me you could give [non-compliant passengers] fines like confetti. It is unacceptable and is putting people at risk.”

TfGM’s chief operating officer Bob Morris was unable to provide the committee with the number of fines that had been handed out for non-compliance since June.

The meeting heard that the TravelSafe partnership would continue to use their presence on the trams to pursue an education approach first ‘rather than just slap fines on everybody’.

Mr Morris added: “There will always be a hardcore that will always ignore, so the more we can encourage, the more we can make the opportunity to have face coverings available, the better.

“But I do agree that at some point it has to move from being a carrot to more of a stick.”

Niall Griffiths, Local Democracy Reporting Service