![\"Bus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bus-driver-Mushin-Moe-Manir-credit-Facundo-Arrizabalaga-via-MyLondon-1024x703.jpg\")
Bus driver Mushin \u2018Moe\u2019 Manir (credit Facundo Arrizabalaga via MyLondon)<\/p>\nCampaign launched calling on TfL to provide accessible toilet facilities for drivers, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n
Bus driver Mushin \u2018Moe\u2019 Manir (credit Facundo Arrizabalaga via MyLondon)<\/p>\n
Bus drivers are being forced to urinate in bottles on board due to a lack of toilets along certain routes in London, a campaigner has said.<\/p>\n
Muhsin Manir, who has been driving Londoners across the south and east of the capital for 18 years, also claimed workers are often left with a choice to pay out of pocket to use the facilities at a cafe or restaurant along the way.<\/p>\n
However, during early morning or late night shifts, there could be nowhere for drivers to \u2018spend a penny\u2019 at all.<\/p>\n
Accusing Transport for London (TfL) of failing to invest in adequate provisions for bus drivers across the city, he said transport chiefs had made a \u201cpolitical choice\u201d in opting not to spend the money where it\u2019s most needed.<\/p>\n
He has recently launched a campaign to force the network\u2019s hand to provide accessible toilet facilities for drivers on routes 115 and 58, which stop at East Ham Central Park. However, Manir noted the issue of toilet provision was a London-wide shame, especially in a heatwave when drivers need to take in lots of fluids.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some businesses locally, but they\u2019ll charge us to use the facilities,\u201d he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I don\u2019t have cash, if I don\u2019t have money in my account, how am I going to use the facility? It\u2019s quite embarrassing to get refused, especially if you don\u2019t have money. So sometimes, especially when they\u2019re closed down, sometimes we have to use a bottle, or you have to go to the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable \u2013 there\u2019s nowhere to wash your hands as well. It\u2019s embarrassing. Your dignity is exposed, you know?<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when I come in the morning to start my shift on the 158 \u2013 I used to find in the morning a bottle of Lucozade lying around, open, and on the floor, sticky. Or sometimes I would find them by the back of the cab seat, hidden.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrivers don\u2019t dispose [of] it, or didn\u2019t know where to. They\u2019re either probably using it on the bus [as a toilet], or somewhere in the park or somewhere else. We shouldn\u2019t be in these kind of situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
If a cafe or restaurant is open and available to use during a break, it often comes with a cost, which Manir says hits particularly hard during the cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n
He wants TfL to ensure toilets are installed along routes where public facilities are not available. Previous data from the GMB Union identified at least 175 bus routes that lack dedicated driver toilet facilities at one end of the journey, meaning drivers have to rely on commercial or private establishments.<\/p>\n
Manir, whose campaign for the two specific routes has over 300 signatures, suggested that members of the public are now starting to understand the plight of drivers.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cBuses are delayed because drivers don\u2019t have proper facilities. That makes people late for work, or miss their appointment, job interviews and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manir also claimed the reason that TfL hasn\u2019t yet acted on this longstanding issue is financial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re shying away from the truth because it costs money,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to spend the money, and it\u2019s a political choice. They can make that choice to invest in bus drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfair, because we come and start our shift early in the morning, leave our families, do unsocial hours, work long hours, long days, sometimes 13 days straight. We have weather where we are exposed to dehydration. We get treated with no toilet facilities. This is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
A TfL spokesperson said: \u201cWe take driver welfare seriously and it\u2019s vital that bus drivers are able to access toilet facilities while working. There is ongoing work on a range of measures to improve health and wellbeing for bus drivers, as well as providing safe and usable welfare facilities for our staff to use during their breaks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past eight years, 154 locations have had a brand-new toilet building installed or had existing welfare facilities fully refurbished. The vast majority of routes have suitable toilet facilities at their termini and we are determined to improve provision where possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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