Commuters are being told not to travel through Tube stations during peak hours as Underground lines are full again today.
But many people using Transport for London (TfL) services this morning have complained that they still cannot practice social distancing.
Angry tweets published today show that Britons are also concerned that so many TfL commuters are not wearing face masks.
It comes as data released by Apple reveals that more and more people are searching for alternative walking and cycling routes to work.
Signs at Canary Wharf warn passengers, who will have already arrived at the station, to avoid using the station between 5.45am to 8.15am and and 4pm to 5.30pm.
Tube trains at Canary Wharf stations are busy once again this morning as tens of thousands of people return to their daily commute
Bus passengers in London are being forced to stand as space runs out on board the capital’s public transport on Tuesday
Last week Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, vowed to bring public transport services up to 75 per cent of pre-lockdown levels as people return to work after nearly two months of being furloughed or working from home.
TfL has maintained that 75 per cent of services are running today, with around 30 Tube stations out of 270 remaining shut.
Monday’s rush hour was the busiest of the lockdown with Tube ridership between 5.30am and 10am up 18.5 per cent – compared to last Monday – with around 15,000 extra people using the underground this morning.
Signage at Canary Wharf station this morning urges passengers to stay away during the rush hour
Some passengers have said that they’re reusing public transport after Mr Khan brought back the congestion charge.
Paul James, 41, who works in the construction industry, said: ‘I live in Sittingbourne in Kent and although I’ve been working for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been driving into London.
‘I’m now back on public transport because Sadiq Khan has now reintroduced the congestion charge and I think he’s been too rash.
‘The councils are also putting parking restrictions back, which I think is also wrong. It’s all about putting money over people’s health.
‘I think I’m putting myself at risk going down into the tube network and that’s why I’m wearing these gloves and this mask. Although it’s much quieter than normal, there’s more people commuting this morning than I expected.’
Zain Safi, 23, from Catford, London, caught the train to London Bridge and was heading on the tube to Paddington, where he works as a banker.
He said: ‘I’ve been working throughout the pandemic as the bank I work in near the Edgware Road has stayed open. But before this week I was driving in all the time.
‘Now the congestion charge has returned, I don’t want to pay £11.50 every day so from this week I’ve gone back to using public transport.
Passengers are returning to Canning Town station this morning as London gets back to work after nearly two months of lockdown
The Jubilee Line through Canary Wharf is busy this morning, with little room for passengers to obey social distancing rules
‘It’s a bit of a worry to be honest as I’ve got a little brother and sister at home so I don’t really want to be going on trains and tubes at the moment.
‘I’m using gloves and a face mask but I still feel a sense of trepidation.
‘I’ve noticed more drivers on the road recently and there are more commuters heading into central London than I thought.’
Passenger numbers are creeping up this morning, as tens of thousands of Brits return to work.
Not all Jubilee Line passengers are choosing to wear protective face masks during their commute on Tuesday
But some stations remain eerily quiet compared to rush hour before lockdown began nearly two months ago.
Rajinder Sabharwal, an electrician from Hayes, west London was travelling through an empty Paddington station this morning.
He said: ‘It’s been like this since last week, when I returned to work. Prior to the lockdown you’d have to wait for ages to get onto the underground and everybody was squeezed in tight but now there’s nobody around.
‘I’ve been really surprised that there are so few people travelling. I think they are still too scared to come to work.’
There has been a sharp increase in requests for walking and driving routes in the UK compared with May, Apple data indicates.
The latest figures, used in government press conference slides, show requests for walking directions just 38 per cent beneath the Apple baseline – calculated since January 13 – with driving just 40 per cent below baseline.
Despite these figures being well below average for this year, they are a significant increase from figures for lockdown generally.
North Acton looks a little more sparse compared to other stations in London this morning
Data for early May shows requests for walking and driving requests at around 70 per cent below the baseline – with public transport route requests hovering at around 80 per cent below baseline.
All three categories – walking, driving, and public transport route requests – took a sharp plunge when lockdown was announced in March, but public transport requests have remained the lowest since then – with walking and driving route requests now at their highest this month.
However, a senior Tube source told MailOnline: ‘That might be the aim but in reality, across the entire Tube network, it was about 50 per cent of service.’
They claimed at least 30 Tube train drivers refused to work, saying not enough had been done to protect both them and passengers from the virus.
It is not known how long they instead to stay away but they are not expected to return soon. There are around 3,000 drivers on the London Underground, including those who work for the night Tube.
TfL has insisted that 75 per cent of Tube trains were running.
One commuter tweeted: ‘Why are people not wearing masks at the very least?! I can see some are, but this is useless unless EVERYONE wears one’
TfL said ‘social distancing is already very difficult even with less journeys being made. Managing social distancing has become more difficult as more people (use) the network’
TfL said ‘we’re encouraging face masks as they’re particularly important where social distancing is hard to maintain with announcements and signage at stations’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told commuters today: ‘Lockdown is still in place, so we must continue to stay at home as much as possible. If you need to travel on public transport, you must wear a non-medical face covering for the entire journey’
One person angrily replied ‘you should have made this compulsory ages ago’
One commuter complained ‘bus this morning is the same (as Tube services)’
‘Restricting people entering a station is just causing people to congregate outside making a large group of people close together and creating a crowd with no social distancing!!! How about implementing real policy and only allow people to enter wearing a mask!!!’
TfL said ‘we continue to urge people to only travel if absolutely necessary’
TfL added ‘we are asking that those who need to travel asked to reimagine their journeys’
A TfL spokesperson said ‘we are also urging employers to help their staff avoid travelling at the busiest times of day to help prevent congestion and help with social distancing’
One commuter said ‘it’s a bit worrying that the police officers and some of the TfL staff at Canada Water tube station are not wearing face masks’
Others poked fun at commuters wearing face masks on their chins during the rush hour
Passengers have been advised to sit one seat apart on public transport as tens of thousands of people return to work this week
Apple data used in Government press conference slides has revealed a sharp increase in requests for walking and driving routes in the UK compared with early May. The latest figures show requests for walking directions just 38 per cent beneath the Apple baseline – calculated since January 13 – with driving just 40 per cent below baseline. Despite these figures being well below average for this year, they are a significant increase from figures for lockdown generally
Traffic in London remains way short on pre-lockdown levels – but are increasing every day as more people return to work with congestion on the capital’s roads now up four per cent today – compared to last Monday, according to TomTom data