Scotrail have confirmed today that their staff will no longer be enforcing the wearing of face masks on their trains.
Scotrail Operations director David Simpson said that the train operator did not want to put staff in a "difficult position".
Despite the wearing of face coverings being a legal requirement by the Scottish Governments, passengers are expected to take "personal responsibility" and wear a face covering unless they are exempt.
The news comes after Scotland made the move beyond Level 0 on Monday (August 9).
Simpson told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "We're not expecting our staff to enforce it. Our staff can often be in very difficult position in that respect, particularly on evening services where customers are perhaps more refreshed than usual.
"What we don't want to do is put staff into difficult, challenging, potentially upsetting environments."
Despite staff not having to enforce masks, Mr Simpson said that CCTV monitoring had shown that passengers currently have a "very high" compliance but that they would also be working with the British Transport Police (BTP) in "trouble spots".
Understandably there will be people anxious about getting on a train if people are not wearing a mask. In this instance, Mr Simpson advises anyone who is concerned should contact the BTP or move to a different part of the train.
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Simpson added: "We've put tremendous amount of effort into enhanced cleaning on trains and in stations.
"We think face coverings gives an extra level of reassurance about using public transport and we will be making sure timetable matches demand to avoid overcrowding."
