First Bus Glasgow's reduced timetable is to continue amid staff shortages, it has been confirmed.
The interim managing director of First Bus Scotland says that due a high level of staff sickness and absence caused by the spread of the Omicron covid variant, the temporary timetable in place over the festive season will remain the same for the remainder of this week.
Apologising for the adverse impact on passengers, Duncan Cameron says he and his team are doing everything they can to minimise disruption and and inconvenience and will look to reinstate services 'as a matter of urgency'.
The temporary reduced timetable was due to end on January 4 (Tuesday), but will now continue throughout Wednesday, Thursday and Friday across Glasgow.
Duncan Cameron, Interim Managing Director for First Bus in Scotland said: “Along with many other organisations up and down the country, we are experiencing a higher than normal level of staff sickness and absence due to the current wave of Omicron cases. The safety of our staff and customers will always be our number one priority.
“As a result, we have had to introduce a temporary reduced timetable across our Glasgow network. This means that our current festive service level, due to end on January 4th, will now continue on 5th, 6th and 7th of January, but we will look to supplement this with additional early morning journeys as and when resource allows, which we anticipate starting from January 10th.
“We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption to services and inconvenience to our customers and our teams are working extra hard to ensure as many buses run as is possible. We’ll be reviewing the situation on an ongoing basis and when absence levels improve, we’ll be working hard to reinstate more services as a matter of urgency
“We are continuing to do everything we can to support and look after our colleagues whilst in the workplace with hand sanitiser, face coverings and enhanced cleaning taking place to minimise the risk of transmission of the virus. Our local teams continue to ensure our vehicles are cleaned regularly to a high standard.
“I would like to apologise in advance to all customers who are affected by these timetable changes. For the latest information, we will continue to provide regular updates on services in Glasgow through our local websites www.firstglasgow.com and our social media platforms.”
On Monday it was announced daily coronavirus cases in Scotland reached a record new high at 20,217.
The figures published by the Scottish Government show 65,860 new tests for Covid-19 reported results and 34.9% were positive.
