Well, the title sums up what we’re talking about here – a simple, easy to understand guide if you are mandated to wear a mask on public transport providers/groups.
In this post, we are covering the major providers only – It is up to you to double-check before you travel.
Whilst this list was checked on the 19th of July, this is subject to change at short notice. As such, the site URL’s are provided to allow you to check for yourself.
Public Transport Executives
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| Transport for London | Rail / Underground / Bus / Tram / etc | Yes | – | tfl.gov.uk |
| Transport for Greater Manchester | Trams/Bus Stations/Ring and Ride | Yes | – | Transport for Greater Manchester |
| Transport for Wales | Bus/Rail | Yes | – | Transport for Wales |
| Transport for West Midlands | Trams | No | Yes | Transport for West Midlands |
| Transport for Tyne and Wear (Nexus) | Trams | Yes | – | nexus.org.uk |
| Translink (Northern Ireland | Bus/Rail/Coach | Yes | translink.co.uk |
Trains – Regional and Commuter
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| c2c | Train | No | Yes | c2c-online.co.uk |
| Chiltern Railways | Train | No | Yes | Chiltern Railways |
| East Midlands Railway | Train | No | Yes | East Midlands Railway |
| Great Northern | Train | No | Yes | Great Northern |
| Heathrow Express | Train | Yes | Heathrow Express | |
| Greater Anglia | Train | No | Yes | Greater Anglia |
| Grand Central | Train | No | Yes | Grand Central Rail |
| Hull Trains | Train | No | Yes | Hull Trains |
| London NorthWestern | Train | No | Yes | London Northwestern Railway |
| Merseyrail/MerseyTravel | Train/Bus/Ferry | No | Yes | Merseytravel |
| Northern | Train | No | Yes | Northern Railway |
| Scotrail/Transport Scotland | Train | Yes | ScotRail transport.gov.scot | |
| Southeastern | Train | No | Yes | Southeastern |
| Southern | Train | No | Yes | Southern |
| South Western Railway | Train | No | Yes | South Western Railway |
| Thameslink | Train | No | Yes | Thameslink |
| TransPennine Express | Train | No | Yes | First TransPennine Express |
| West Midlands Railway | Train | No | Yes | West Midlands Railway |
Rail Travel – Long Distance
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| Avanti West Coast | Train | Yes if going to Scotland or Wales | Yes | Avanti West Coast |
| Great Western Railway | Train | Yes if going to Wales | Yes | Great Western Railway |
| London North Eastern Railway | Train | Yes if going to Scotland | Yes | LNER |
| Caledonian Sleeper | Train | Yes if going to Scotland | Yes | Caledonian Sleeper |
| CrossCountry | Train | Yes if going to Scotland | Yes | CrossCountry |
Coaches
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| National Express | Coach | No | Yes | National Express |
| Flixbus | Coach | Check | Check | FlixBus & FlixTrain |
| StageCoach | Coach | Check | Check | Stagecoach |
Bus
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| StageCoach | Bus | Varies – check area | Yes | Stagecoach |
| FirstBus | Bus | Varies – check area | Yes | First Bus |
| National Express West Midlands | Bus | No | Yes | NX Bus West Midlands |
| GoAhead Group | Bus | Varies – check area | Yes | The Go-Ahead Group |
Aviation
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| British Airways | Air | Yes | – | British Airways |
| EasyJet | Air | Yes | – | easyjet.com |
| Ryanair | Air | Yes | – | Travel Updates (ryanair.com) |
| Jet2 | Air | Yes | – | Jet2.com |
| TUI | Air | Yes | – | TUI |
| Virgin Atlantic | Air | Yes | – | Virgin Atlantic help centre |
| Loganair | Air | Yes | – | Fly Safe (loganair.co.uk) |
| Eastern Airways | Air | Yes | – | Eastern Airways |
Ride Sharing
| Provider | Type | Mask Mandated? | Mask Recommended? | URL |
| Bolt | Ride-Sharing | Yes | – | Bolt.eu |
| Ola | Ride-Sharing | Yes | – | Ola.co.uk |
| Uber | Ride-Sharing | Yes | – |
What is the government advice on wearing masks?
The exact wording from Her Majesties Government for England is as follows:
COVID-19 spreads through the air by droplets and aerosols that are exhaled from the nose and mouth of an infected person.
The Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.
Train companies in England are following this. The administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following their own rules.
What is the data behind this?
A meta-data analysis was constructed and built – by going to each site and checking for their polices. This was valid at 18:00, 19/07/2021.
The data has been provisioned on a Dropbox file.
Use of this file is public domain – If you wish to attribute – please attribute back to this post.
Note: Comments closed for this article.
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