Coronavirus: extra staff to enforce bus and train limits

Commuters and students returning to school in Sydney today will be met by hundreds of extra NSW Transport employees enforcing social distancing.

The NSW government will ­impose maximum passenger limits on all public transport to ensure social distancing is maintained as patronage of the transport networks increases. Picture AAP

Peak-hour commuters and students returning to school in Sydney on Monday will be met by hundreds of extra NSW Transport workers who will enforce ­social distancing on trains, buses and ­ferries.

NSW Transport Minister ­Andrew Constance said 20 teams of transport officers, security officers and marshalling officers would be at major transport hubs and interchanges such as Wynyard, Newcastle and Chatswood to help commuters physically distance and keep safe.

“These marshalling response and support teams will monitor physical distancing, assist with crowd management and provide extra guidance to customers to help them move through stations and interchanges safely,” Mr Constance said. “This could mean forming lines at bus stops or limiting the amount of people who can enter on to a platform.”

Staff clean handrails on a train at Bondi Junction Station on May 19 in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

The NSW government will ­impose maximum passenger limits on all public transport to ensure social distancing is maintained as patronage of the transport networks increases.

The limit for a double-door bus is 12 people, a train carriage 32, and a Manly ferry, 245. Large, green dots have already been placed on seats to indicate where people can safely sit and stand.

However, the scheme came under criticism after Mr Constance admitted there was no public health order allowing police to fine those who violate the restrictions, with commuters expected to show “a degree of self-responsibility”.

It was also revealed that NSW Transport instructed bus drivers not to enforce social distancing on their vehicles, and to always pick up schoolchildren, even if the passenger limit has been reached.

“Schoolchildren and people who require assistance, such as customers with disability, will be given priority access, even if this means a service goes over physical distancing capacity,” a NSW Transport spokesman said.

Mr Constance said the ­additional transport staff are not being deployed to punish anyone.

“Having those eyes there and guidance for people to be protected is what this is all about,” he told The Sunday Telegraph. “We’re not putting them there because people are engaging in bad behaviour — we’re putting them there to try and maintain the 1.5m around people and be there as a reminder for everyone.”

The new passenger limits are having an impact. NSW Transport data shows a 3.3 per cent fall in public transport ­patronage since they were announced. The decline was most pronounced on buses, with a fall of 9.9 per cent.

An employee at Bondi Junction Station disinfects escalator handrails in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Constance said people should consider driving, walking or cycling to work and school as NSW road traffic was still only 60 per cent of pre-COVID levels.

More than 10km of bike paths are being established in and around the inner city, and from Monday commuters will be able to park their car at Sydney’s Moore Park and catch a connecting shuttle or light rail transfer in the CBD.

“Parents, please if you can, drop your kid at school,” Mr Constance said on Sunday. “Alternatively, if your kids can walk or ride a pushbike, please do so.”