A pensioner says she was verbally abused after asking a woman why she only put a face mask on at the end of her train journey.
Martine Power and her husband got the train from Hillside to Southport on Saturday evening (June 5).
She told the ECHO: "We went into Southport for a meal.
"We had been on the train a couple of times before and apart from a few people, virtually everyone had been wearing a mask, so we were not in the slightest bit concerned about using the train.
"Unfortunately over the last few weeks things seem to have changed quite dramatically.
"Of the nine people sitting in our area, only three had masks on - and two of them were us.
"There was no point in asking people to wear masks as we were totally outnumbered."
Ms Power says as the train pulled into Southport, she noticed passengers begin to put masks on.
She continued: "I asked the lady on the opposite side of the aisle why she was doing this and was told that it was to get through the station.
"My reply was that even if we were all vaccinated, surely we should be wearing masks to protect others as well as ourselves? but she and the man with her were not interested.
"In the few seconds that it took to leave the train and reach the barrier, we were informed by them that if we didn't like it we should have sat somewhere else, and to 'shut the f*** up!'"
Ms Power says she then asked station staff about mask wearing.
She added: "We were told that train staff have no authority to insist that masks are worn.
"There are by-laws to prevent one from putting feet on seats, drinking alcohol, smoking etc., none of which are going to kill us, but there appears to be nothing to protect us from the pandemic or from aggression if we complain about a lack of consideration from non compliers.
"We have actually seen masked transport police asking people to take their feet off seats, while ignoring those without masks. How hard would it be to remind people to cover their faces?"
Merseyrail says it is working hard to encourage people to wear face coverings, and has given out tens of thousands of masks since the start of the pandemic.
Suzanne Grant, commercial director of Merseyrail, said: “We are working hard to engage with our passengers to encourage them to wear a face covering whilst travelling on the Merseyrail network.
“This has included a high-profile passenger information campaign including posters, social media posts, announcements and travel advice being published in local media.
“We have also given out over 80,000 face coverings to passengers since the start of the pandemic and our teams at stations are actively speaking to passengers who are not wearing a face covering whilst travelling.
“In line with current government guidance we would remind passengers that it may not always be possible to socially distance at all points throughout their journey, so everyone must follow government guidance and wear a face covering, unless exempt, whilst travelling on our network.
“This includes from the point of entering the grounds of a station, until exiting the network to protect staff and other passengers.
“Whilst our staff aren’t able to prevent travel or issue fines for non-compliance, passengers who fail to wear a face covering and are not exempt face a fine of up to £6,400 if they are stopped by officers from British Transport Police who do have the necessary powers to issue fines for those breaking the rules.
“We encourage any passengers who experience behaviour that causes them concern whilst travelling on Merseyrail to report it to the British Transport Police by texting 61016 with details of the incident.”
