Closed windows, passengers who don’t wear masks, crowds on buses... the reality of our public transport
GUIDELINES to keep commuters and staff safe from the rapid spread of Omicron are not being adhered to on the capital’s public transport network.
Irish Mail on Sunday spot checks on buses and trams around the capital this week starkly illustrated many instances of Covid rules not being followed or enforced.
According to the guidelines face-coverings are mandatory on public transport for passengers aged 13 and over and are recommended for those aged nine to 12. Hand sanitiser should be provided and windows should be open to improve ventilation.
However, on a trip on the Luas Red Line to Tallaght on Monday, only half the windows were open, five passengers wore their masks below their chin, and three more wore none.
On a separate Luas trip to the 3Arena in Dublin’s docklands, only a couple of windows were open though the carriage was rammed with passengers, all seated and standing close together.
Three Luas inspectors on board vigilantly checked tickets, but did nothing to encourage mask wearing or open windows. Staff merely watched as a twentysomething woman boarded without a face covering and chatted loudly on the phone before sitting opposite an elderly passenger.
Another young man with no mask was greeted warmly by ticket inspectors. A trio of unmasked, middle-aged men boarded without comment from staff and were followed by another three passengers whose masks appeared to have got stuck under their chins.
Throughout the journey, there was very little airflow through the carriage and no hand sanitiser in sight.
Many people have expressed their frustration on social media in recent days. One Twitter user lamented the lack of mask wearing on the tram: ‘The Luas Red Line is a mobile super-spreader tube…’
Others responded to a Transport for Ireland tweet on Monday reminding passengers to wear their masks by writing: ‘It would be good to see Luas staff trying to enforce this. I have seen four to six Luas staff checking tickets but none asking people to wear a mask.’ Another wrote: ‘Can you please have the windows open? They’re all closed at 6am with the heating on.’
A Luas customer service representative thanked the tweeters for ‘bringing this to their attention’ but did not promise any action.
Separate bus journeys this week also highlighted a low level of compliance and enforcement of safety rules.
On the 38a to O’Connell
Street Upper, just five of 24 windows on board were open.
However, greater safety concerns were evident on the No.4 to Monkstown Avenue. So many passengers poured onto the bus from O’Connell Bridge that it was completely packed. It wasn’t even possible to see through the mass of standing people – some masked, some not – to scan for an empty seat.
An announcement asked passengers to give priority downstairs to elderly passengers and to practice ‘personal hygiene’. However, only six of the 32 windows on board were open.
These experiences did not measure up well with the Government’s R.S.V.P. campaign, which encourages people to consider the risks, their symptoms, the venue and the people they are meeting before venturing out.
To identify risk, the Government encourages people to consider vaccination. However, you do not need a Covid cert to board a tram, bus or train. As far as symptoms go, coughs – a known Covid symptom – were certainly a part of the cacophony of noise on Dublin’s buses and Luas carriages earlier this week.
Despite indoor socialising being capped at 50%, public transport is operating at maximum capacity, something the National Bus and Rail Union is pushing to change.
In a letter to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan on December 18, NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary said although passenger numbers had ‘significantly reduced’ in recent weeks a ‘considerable number of bus and train services’ were carrying up to 100% capacity.
He said union members were unhappy with this and argued that the request to ‘don the green jersey’ should apply to frontline public transport workers, asking Mr Ryan to investigate ‘as a matter of urgency’. The next day, Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart supported the NBRU call and Sinn Féin TD Darren O’Rourke tweeted: ‘Minister Ryan should meet with the NBRU to resolve this.’
However, a Department of Transport spokesman said pubic transport ‘frequency and capacity are continuing as normal’ and NPHET had not advised otherwise. The National Transport Authority said it is ‘closely monitoring public transport demand’. It said it has a zero-tolerance policy on Covid rule-breaking and that gardaí are ‘conducting regular checks… and have yet to report any instances of rule breaking’ on public transport.
‘No sanitiser and six of 32 windows open’