London’s Transport Commissioner responds to the Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus

TfL's Transport Commissioner, Andy Byford, said:

'Life in London is more reliant on public transport than any other part of the country and, as Government restrictions are gradually eased, we will play our part in the economic recovery by providing safe, clean and reliable transport.

'More people are returning to public transport every day and we have made sure that stations, Tubes and buses are cleaner than ever by using hospital-grade disinfectant, intensifying our cleaning regime and making over 1,000 hand sanitiser stations available for use.

'We are grateful that the overwhelming majority of passengers are looking out for each other and complying with the requirement to wear a face covering for the full duration of their journeys. Police and our enforcement teams are taking steps to ensure that everyone does so. And, of course, customers should continue to wash their hands before and after journeys.

'We are now running near-normal levels of services, but the need to maintain social distancing wherever possible means that we do ask customers to travel outside the busier times. We are providing the information customers need on when the quieter times are for their journeys. We are working to make travelling more comfortable for everyone by spreading demand outside the old rush hour and distributing it more evenly across the day. And we continue to work with businesses to make that happen and to support their recovery and that of London's shops, attractions, pubs and restaurants.

'In partnership with London's boroughs, we will also continue to deliver the Mayor's ambitious  StreetSpace programme to provide walking and cycling facilities across the Capital to offer more options for active travel.

'What is clear to me is that the current situation is unsustainable - we must avoid a car-led recovery which would cause gridlock and only make things worse. So my message to Londoners returning to public transport is we are doing everything to keep things clean and safe for everyone. We are here to help'.