Getting the bus home at the end of a night out is often an event in itself. You’ve got the kebab munchers, the sleepers, the off-key karaoke-ers and the guy trying to make conversation with anything that breathes. In Glasgow, though, that quintessential part of night’s entertainment is about to be no more.
Bus operator First Glasgow has revealed that it is withdrawing all of its night-time services from July 31. Apparently there is ‘not enough appetite’ for the services, which were only reintroduced a year ago. According to First Glasgow, buses in the Scottish city were regularly operating with as few as 14 passengers per hour.
Graeme Macfarlan, commercial director at First Bus Scotland, said that to sustain the services beyond July ‘would require the number of people using them each weekend to treble overnight, which is not realistic.’
But it’s not just late night revellers that will be affected by the move. People working late-night shifts in industries like hospitality and security will also lose out on a cheaper way of getting home.
Many are urging First Bus and Glasgow City Council to reconsider the decision. Ruth Boyle, policy and campaigns manager for the Poverty Alliance, criticised the decision, calling the services a ‘vital lifeline to people on low incomes’.
She said: ‘For many people this could be the difference between them being able to stay in paid work and actually having to leave their job because they don't have access to a car or they can't afford the price of taxis.’
A spokesperson for the Night Time Industries Association Scotland added: ‘We are already challenged with limited transport infrastructure after 11pm across the city. The removal of the night bus service across Glasgow is short-sighted and dangerous, showing no consideration for the safety of thousands of night workers and customers coming home in the early hours of the morning.’
ICYMI: This quiet Welsh village has been named the best holiday destination in the UK.
Plus: The best pint of Guinness outside Ireland has been named – and it’s in Manchester.