‘My shirt is wringing wet’: National Express bus drivers speak out about 40C conditions during heatwaves

National Express buses at Birmingham Central bus garage in Digbeth. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen National Express buses at Birmingham Central bus garage in Digbeth. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/AFP/Getty Images ‘My shirt is wringing’: National Express bus drivers speak out on 40C conditions Drivers in West Midlands say buses ‘unbearable’ during heatwaves, raising employee and passenger safety fears Bus drivers in the West Midlands have spoken out about the “horrendous” working conditions they have experienced during heatwaves, which led to 40C temperatures in their cabs. The UK was hit by high temperatures and dry weather in three successive heatwaves, in which temperatures topped 37C in June, when the country recorded its hottest ever June day . Last week, the Met Office warned climate extremes are becoming the “new ‘normal’ for the UK”. Three bus drivers working in the West Midlands said the conditions in their vehicles had been “unbearable” and criticised the absence of adequate air conditioning, which threatened the safety of employees and passengers. The drivers, who did not want to be named, have each worked for National Express for more than 20 years. “You’re sweating down your back, your face … it’s just been terrible, it’s just been too hot,” one driver said. “Some drivers will carry on and you can see that they’re exhausted. They’re not sleeping at night because of the heat and they’re coming to work the next day, expected to maintain massive concentration driving a 12-tonne vehicle.” Another driver said the conditions had been “unbearable”. “It’s like you’ve wet yourself. Your shirt is wringing wet. We’ve even had passengers pass out on the bus,” he said. Persistent high temperatures have led to a renewed focus on working conditions for transport workers in the UK and across Europe . Last week, Green MP Hannah Spencer said she would introduce a bill in parliament to pave the way for a maximum workplace temperature. In June, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, pledged further support for bus drivers during the heatwaves. Transforming the UK’s public transport infrastructure is likely to be a key focus for the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, who brought the buses in Manchester under local public control as franchises after nearly four decades of a deregulation. Drivers in the West Midlands said they had been granted additional 30-minute breaks to cope with the heat, but many employees were not aware of this and feared the impact on their pay and delays to the service for passengers. One driver criticised National Express, which they believed was not taking the concerns of drivers seriously. “I think they’ll only take it seriously if someone passed out at the wheel,” he said. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion Most UK media reports on June heatwave failed to mention climate crisis Read more Unite, the union representing the drivers working for National Express, said the high tempera