Fear of catching covid from handrails 'sparks rise in Tube escalator falls'
17 September 2021, 08:02
Passengers are falling on Tube escalators more frequently as they don't want to hold handrails for fear of catching Covid-19.
Tube bosses reported a rise in accidents, with “intoxicated” passengers celebrating the end of lockdown also to blame, according to the London Evening Standard.
Twelve serious injuries were reported in the Tube in April, May and June, more than any other quarter in the past two years.
More injuries occur on Thursday and Friday evenings and weekends due to the return of drunken revellers to central London.
London Underground managing director Andy Lord said escalator falls were “our biggest risk from a passenger injury perspective”.
He told a panel: "The two biggest risks we have are falls on escalators caused by people who don’t hold the handrail.
"There is an issue with the perception that the handrail is not clean because of the pandemic.
"The other bigger issue is actually intoxication."
TfL plans to expand a trial that attaches Covid-busting ultraviolet light devices to hand rails to eradicate traces of the virus and has introduced an intensive cleaning regime with anti-viral fluids.
Frequent testing by Imperial College London experts has failed to find traces of Covid on the network.
