All passengers using public transport in London should wear face coverings, carry hand sanitiser and wash hands before and after travel, Transport for London has said.

The advice applies to those using the underground tube network, buses, black cabs and minicabs, the transport operator said.

In new guidance, issued on Monday, TfL said: “If using public transport, or taxi and private hire services, please travel outside of peak times and use a facial covering, carry a hand sanitiser and wash your hands before and after you travel.

“The latest government advice is that, although face coverings are unlikely to prevent you from getting the virus, they could help prevent you from giving it to others.

“Face coverings are particularly important where two-metre social distancing is hard to maintain.”

Passengers will be required to stay two metres apart at all times, in line with national guidance.

This means public transport will operate very differently to before the pandemic, TfL said.

The challenge is “far greater than the 2012 Olympic Games, with the need to reduce pre-Covid demand on buses and tube by over 85 per cent” it added.

Hand sanitiser points are to be installed across the transport network in the coming weeks, including at every tube, Overground, DLR and TfL rail station.

They will also be introduced at all bus stations, Victoria coach station, TfL river piers, the Woolwich Ferry and the Emirates Air Line.

The rigorous cleaning regime for buses, trains and stations will continue, TfL said.

TfL said public transport should still be avoided wherever possible and people should instead walk or cycle if they can.

The advice came as passengers were pictured wearing facial coverings on London underground trains on Monday.

Some tube carriages and platforms were packed on Monday morning, a day after the prime minister said anyone who cannot work from home should be “actively encouraged” to return to work.

However Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, sowed further confusion for millions of British workers on Monday by repeatedly stating that those who could not work from home should begin to return to work from Wednesday.

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