Bus drivers to ask veiled women to show faces

BUS drivers have been ordered to ask women wearing veils in the Capital to show their faces in order to catch out fare cheats.

The women are being told they must lift their veils or produce their passports or driving licences if they want to use a bus pass.

The move has caused anger in the Muslim community, with at least one woman walking off a bus after being told of the new rules.

The rules have been introduced by Lothian Buses to stop passengers using other people's passes. The firm says the rules are in line with airport security regulations and follow "best practice" in the industry.

Security staff at UK airports have been authorised to ask female passengers to lift their veils to verify their identities.

Many drivers are uneasy with the change and fear passengers will think they are being racist.

One woman walked off a bus on Ferry Road after being challenged by the driver. One driver, who asked not to be named, said: "All the drivers are raging about this. It seems really unnecessary and puts the driver in an awkward and potentially dangerous position.

"We risk being branded racist or just unhelpful because we are refusing people on to our buses. We could end up being attacked by other passengers."

Another driver added: "All of this is to stop fraud, but you have to ask just how much fraud is really being carried out this way."

Lothian Buses changed its rules in February so that anyone buying a Ridacard had to remove a veil to obtain a pass photo. The orders to drivers have since been pinned up at the firm's Annandale Street depot. Veiled pass holders who fail to comply with a driver's request would have to pay for a full fare ticket.

Some city Muslims said the new rules were unfairly intrusive. Sohaib Saeed, events co-ordinator at the Edinburgh Central Mosque, said: "You can see in areas such as airport security where there needs to be a degree of flexibility because of security, but I don't see why it is such a big issue for buses."

Shabana Banheer, a member of Muslim Women's Association Edinburgh, said: "I don't cover my own face but I can understand that if someone does it could be very demeaning to be asked to take off a veil like that. It shows a lack of trust."

Ian Craig, managing director for Lothian Buses, said: "Following transport industry best practice and guidelines set down by the British Passport Office, the DVLA and Transport Scotland, we issued our own guidelines to Travelshop staff stating that veils must be removed for the issuing of Ridacard photo cards.

"Guidance notes have also been issued to our drivers on how to deal with passengers wearing veils who travel using a Ridacard.

"Our Ridacards are unique to the holder and are non-transferable. Drivers must check that any travel pass presented is not being used fraudulently."

Councillor Dougie Kerr, the city's equalities leader, said: "I would hope Lothian Buses would look very carefully at any policies they have on this.

"This [policy] will obviously cause offence to some people and I would hope that anything so culturally sensitive would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. I am quite sure there are very few women who would wear a hijab just to avoid paying a bus fare.

"If you don't need to remove them in schools or such like, I don't see why you should have to do so on a bus."

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw caused controversy last October when he admitted he asks Muslim constituents to remove their veils when they visit him at surgeries.