A bus operator has announced none of its Saturday services in South Holland will be running from January until April.
Brylaine, which runs services including the Spalding Town IT1/IT2, the B13 Boston – Spalding and K59 Boston – Spalding says it’s due to a reduction of drivers.
Last October the company announced a reduced service, but now one of those services will run on a Saturday from January 1 to March 21.
A spokesman said: “We had hoped to avoid this action taking intermediary steps on the 06/11/2021, adopting temporary reduced Saturday services.
“However, after further reductions in the team we find ourselves in the position whereby we must consider what is best for everyone in these exceptional circumstances.
“This action is not in anyway taken lightly and we hope that it is temporary; it is a big decision for a local family business as we fully appreciate both the disruption and inconvenience it may cause to loyal passengers.
“It is being taken with our best intentions to ensure Brylaine are able to fully operate all service between Monday and Friday on the days they are most needed by the communities we serve.”
It continues: “Without regional funding and support for the operation of rural bus services; rural operators like ourselves simply cannot reach wage levels that compete with HGV, or indeed many of the local warehouse distribution operations and online delivery services, here in Lincolnshire.
“Substantially increasing fares to meet the professional wage deficit is not an option, given we serve some of the lowest socio-economic and sparsely populated areas in the country, whilst also delivering some of the longest bus service routes.
“On a more positive note, we have a fantastic team here and our driving team is and remains incredibly supportive and hard working. Our hope is to reintroduce Saturday services levels from 03/04/2022 and we are liaising closely with Lincolnshire County Council Transport Team on this timeframe.”
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