Bus driver ‘stopped vehicle to pray’

TfL reminds Muslim workers of policy after delayed passengers complain

PM newsdesk

Publication date: 9 February 2010

Source:

PM Online

A bus driver in north London has attracted complaints after he stopped the vehicle to pray midway through a journey, it has been reported.

The driver of the number 24 bus in Gospel Oak pulled over without warning, rolled out a fluorescent jacket as a makeshift mat and performed a five-minute prayer as passengers looked on. The engine was kept running and nobody was able to leave the bus during the incident as the driver was blocking the door.

One of the passengers who complained, Gayle Griffiths, described the incident as “bizarre and aggravating”.

“We are delayed often enough as it is in London. We live in a multicultural society but there is a time and a place for prayer and the middle of a journey with a busload of passengers is not it,” she told a newspaper.

Transport for London has apologised to all the passengers for the delay to their journey and said that the driver, who is from a Somalian background and new to his role, has been warned that his action was not appropriate.

A spokesman said: “The bus company – London General – has had a word with the driver as this is not something that should be happening.”

Muslim drivers have been reminded that they should pray during rest periods between journeys to avoid delays, he added.