More temporary cuts to bus services in the local area have come into force this week.
Bus operator Stagecoach has introduced 'temporary summer holiday timetables' on two services starting today (July 25).
The services are the 4 (University - Lancaster Railway Station) and the 2X/100 (University - Lancaster - Morecambe - Heysham).
There will be reductions in the times the services run throughout the week, on both routes.
Service 4 has been reduced from every 30 minutes to one bus per hour for most of the day, whilst the 2X/100 will run every 30 minutes during the daytime instead of every 15 minutes (except on services before 8am) with no change to evening or Sunday times.
More details on this and the summer timetables in full, can be found here.
This follows last week's cuts to bus services in the Lancaster and Morecambe district due to an ongoing problem with driver shortages.
More than 100 regular services districtwide did not run last week.
Stagecoach said this was due to "a short-term staffing situation that is out of our control due to the shortage of professional drivers".
Beyond Radio also understands that some Stagecoach bus drivers in our local area are not currently available because the company is set to provide transport for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which start on Friday (July 29).
We have heard this from several different sources close to Stagecoach, and we asked the company for an official comment, but Stagecoach has not responded on this issue.
A spokesperson for Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire said: “As with many industries across the country, we are continuing to face a short-term staffing situation that is out of our control due to the shortage of professional drivers.
"As a result, this is having an impact on our bus services in Lancaster.
"Our team are working incredibly hard given the current circumstances to ensure the vast majority of local services are running.
"We will continue to update passengers on services impacted via our website and social media channels with as much notice as possible.
"We are also taking proactive steps to introduce summer timetables for the 4 and 100 services from (Monday July 25), to help give our customers certainty on the buses operating.”
The Lancaster District Bus Users' Group commented on this week's changes to services on their website.
"Although any reduction in service is unwelcome, this structured approach will at least make it easier for passengers to plan their journeys, always assuming of course that no further ad hoc cancellations occur," they said.
"We also note that although described as 'summer holiday' timetables, there is no indication given of how long they will apply for."
*Stagecoach said today (Monday) that all other services will be running as normal until Wednesday this week.
A spokesperson said there may be a couple of journeys dropped on Thursday and Friday, and these will be publicised on Twitter if this happens, but the company will "looking to cover as much" as they can.
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