That's a bit of a strange statement. The point of refusal would be when entering the railway to start a journey. On unmanned stations, suitably displayed notices would make it obvious to anybody who wanted to claim that they hadn't been informed. (Cue daft posts about blind and illiterate passengers.
I don't think they could, at least not by railway staff. Railway workers have not suddenly become medical professionals who are able to judge whether someone has a respiratory which means they are advised not to wear a mask. Clearly it would be disability discrimination not to allow such people to travel without a face covering and therefore it would be impossible for anyone not medically trained to enforce any rules over mask wearing.
It may be acceptable to have different advice to some groups which they can choose to ignore if they so wish, as this doesn't actually prevent such people doing anything the rest of us can if they choose to, but it is entirely different to actually prevent people from doing something on the basis of their disability.
The extent of what the government can do is greater than what private companies can do. Even if the government did make masks compulsory with medical exceptions I don't think TOC staff could be expected to enforce such measures.
But requiring a mask does prevent many with a protected characteristic from accessing a companies services on the basic of their protected characteristic and would therefore be indirectly discrimination which can only be justified in very limited circumstances. It is unrealistic to suggest that the evidence on masks is strong enough to be a defence to argue that it wouldn't be a reasonable adjustment to allow those whose conditions make wearing a mask impossible to access the services without wearing one which makes any policy of compulsory masks pointless as train company staff are not in a position to understand medical evidence as to whether someone's condition would prevent a mask being worn.
Mostly disability, yes. But that could additionally include some people with learning disabilities or autism who cannot wear a mask for sensory reasons and even some severe cases of claustrophobia where the presence of a mask could lead to panic attacks. Wearing a mask may also cause significant communication issues for many deaf people who often rely on lip reading.
Once you take it off it's next to useless for reuse.
This is nonsense. To consider people in conversation as the reference case completely misunderstands the typical tube commuter.
I agree. Conversations are rarer than hen's teeth.
In the below-ground sections, it IS unusual, although family members travelling together are often chatting. But what about the sections of London Underground and London Overground, and Tramlink, that are above ground? Have you travelled on the Metropolitan Line north of Finchley Road or on the eastern part of the District Line recently, for example? People are on their mobiles constantly, speaking loudly and thus spraying and spreading microdroplets all over the place!
Quite right! Margaret Thatcher would be proud that one of her successors has managed to get public transport users to want to hide their faces where they're out.
Quite right! Margaret Thatcher would be proud that one of her successors has managed to get public transport users to want to hide their faces where they're out.
Which I think, whatever the mixed messages from the experts are, will be the mechanism by which it will become mandatory by peer pressure, at least for those who want to use public transport.
