Masks off in London

Face coverings will no longer be a condition of carriage on TfL services from 24 February.

TfL says it has considered a variety of factors in making this decision, including the shift in the Government’s approach towards living with the virus and decreasing infection rates in London. It has also considered robust evidence about the proven effectiveness of face coverings as well as the results of independent testing by Imperial College London for coronavirus on the public transport network since September 2020 and feedback from stakeholders.

Despite face coverings no longer being a condition of carriage, TfL strongly encourages customers to wear them on its services to drive down transmission of the coronavirus.

TfL has seen public transport use grow in recent weeks with weekday bus ridership now regularly at around 4.5m journeys a day, about 75% of pre-pandemic levels. At weekends, Tube and bus ridership is even closer to pre-pandemic levels.