‘A VERY TOUGH DECISION TO MAKE’

Stagecoach says a number of factors are to blame for its decision to axe the services, including a shortage of drivers.

Joel Mitchell, the firm’s managing director for the south east, says rising costs and falling passenger numbers also play a part.

“Reducing services goes completely against our instinct,” he said.

“We want to regenerate our customer base and bring people back to bus as quickly as possible so we can expand our network, but before we can do that, we’ve got to make some really difficult decisions for the short-term.

“We’ve done everything we can to protect services throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, but we’re now faced with a very challenging set of circumstances.

“People’s travel patterns have changed and despite more people coming back to using public transport, less people are travelling than before the pandemic.

“Our baseline costs have increased significantly too, which means that some services that previously struggled to cover their operating costs are now unsustainable.

“Added to this, bus operators across the country are faced with a significant vacancy gap caused by a shortage of qualified drivers and engineers. This situation has begun to improve here with a good response to our local recruitment campaign, but there remains a shortfall of drivers which continues to have an impact on our services in the area.

“It’s a very tough decision to make because we know the impact it may have on individual people, but by making these changes now, we can ensure that other critical services in the area are continued, and we can operate them more reliably within the scope of our available workforce.

“With the right public policies and investment, buses have a positive long-term future and we remain firmly committed to working with local government to maximise opportunities to deliver good local bus connections for the community.”

Since the pandemic struck Stagecoach services have been drastically affected.

In recent months passengers have seen many routes cancelled at late notice.