Loud music on buses and trains: a GBP100 fine, and up to GBP1,000 on the railway

On 19 October 2026 the Department for Transport issued guidance for local transport authorities in England, "Using bus byelaws to tackle nuisance behaviour", on making and enforcing local rules on buses. The same day the rail industry launched a national campaign, "share the carriage, not the noise", with audio reminders of the rules on trains and at stations.

For anyone living in the UK it comes down to one thing: playing music out loud on a bus can now cost a fixed penalty of up to GBP100, and on a train a court fine of up to GBP1,000.

What actually changed on 19 October 2026?

The guidance arrived — and without it councils could not put powers they already held into practice. The legal power for all local transport authorities in England to make bus byelaws came into force on 5 August 2026 under sections 28 and 29 of the Bus Services Act 2025, which inserted a new section 144A into the Transport Act 2000 and, for London, section 244A into the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

The document has two parts: non-statutory guidance on making byelaws, and statutory guidance on enforcing them, issued under the new section 144D of the Transport Act 2000.

How much does making noise on a bus cost?

The maximum fixed penalty notice (FPN) under this legislation is GBP100. The ceiling is set in section 144E of the Bus Services Act 2025 and section 244C of the GLA Act.

An FPN is an alternative to the magistrates' court: paying it discharges liability, so you can no longer be prosecuted for that specific offence. Accepting it is not compulsory. The guidance is explicit that an alleged offender may refuse and defend the case in court — at the risk of a higher fine and a criminal record. Authorities need not offer an FPN at all, and if one goes unpaid they are expected to prosecute.

The money is not meant to be revenue. FPN receipts must be spent on improving local transport, including enforcement and public education. Any perception that enforcement generates income, the guidance warns, undermines the legitimacy of the regime.

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Will the bus driver be the one fining me?

No. Drivers are not responsible for enforcement. Fines come from authorised officers — Travel Safe Officers and Transport Safety & Enforcement Officers are the examples given — and from police constables, with PCSOs included where the powers are locally approved by the chief constable.

Officers follow the "three E's": engage, encouraging voluntary compliance; educate, explaining the byelaws and their effect on other passengers; and enforce, issuing an FPN or using reasonable force to remove someone. A blanket zero-tolerance approach is unlikely to work, the guidance adds, and enforcement should not be disproportionate.

And on trains — are there fines there too?

Nothing changed on the railway; the rules have been in place for years. The national railway byelaws were made in 2005 by Statutory Instrument under section 219 of the Transport Act 2000.

Byelaw 7(1) says that, except with written permission from an operator, no person on the railway shall, to the annoyance of any person, sing or use any instrument, article or equipment for the production or reproduction of sound. Byelaw 24(1) makes a breach of the byelaws an offence carrying a penalty not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale; the government release puts the maximum plainly at GBP1,000. Byelaw 24(2) adds that anyone an authorised person reasonably believes to be in breach must leave the railway when asked, and can be removed using reasonable force — in practice, put off at the next station.

Vapes are separate: the Railway Byelaws Amendment Order 2025 came into force on 26 December 2025 and extended the smoking restriction to electronic cigarettes wherever a no-smoking notice is displayed.

What else can a bus byelaw cover?

Model wording councils can adopt:

— smoking and using an electronic cigarette on a bus or bus premises;
— drinking alcohol, and being intoxicated to the point of being unfit to travel;
— threatening, abusive, obscene or offensive language or behaviour;
— damaging, defacing, soiling or marking a bus or bus premises;
— dropping litter outside the bins provided;
— wilfully interfering with the comfort or convenience of another passenger;
— singing or reproducing sound "to the annoyance of any person";
— travelling without a valid ticket.

Loud phones are named directly among examples of antisocial behaviour: "making excessive noise, for example by playing music or video without earphones / headphones".

When will this reach my town?

Not automatically. Each authority must draft its own byelaws and get them approved by the Secretary of State for Transport. Applications go to BusByelaws@dft.gov.uk with a proposed commencement date and confirmation that the officer responsible for enforcement has read both sets of guidance.

Before enforcing, authorities must take reasonable steps to make the public aware the byelaws exist — campaigns, work with schools, news coverage — and publish their enforcement policy openly: which offences are enforced, the penalty level, any early payment discount, appeals, and policies on juvenile and vulnerable offenders.

The practical takeaway: the headphones rule on trains already bites today, while the GBP100 on buses arrives in your area only once your transport authority has taken its byelaws through Whitehall — and said so publicly.