Ferry and train services cut back as Covid hits crew numbers
Temproary timetables are being brought in for at least the next three weeks
Cal Mac ferry services on the Clyde and to islands off the west coast are being reduced across the west today as the operator tries to provide greater reliability because of the number of crew catching Covid-19, or being made to isolate.
It's bringing in an emergency timetable for at least the next three weeks with almost 1 in 10 crew members off work, as well as disruption to passenger services at its ports.
The temporary schedule begins today (3rd January) across the network until at least 23 January and will then be kept under weekly review.
CalMac says the changes will allow the operator to focus current crew resources on maintaining lifeline services.
Staff absences soar
Robbie Drummond, CalMac Managing Director, said, "Over the past week the number of covid-related absences amongst vessel crew has increased by 166%, from 35 on Christmas Eve to 93 today.
"Covid absences amongst port staff have risen by one third over the same period. The loss of such large numbers of staff makes it necessary for us to take immediate action to try and preserve essential services to communities.
The latest figures show that 93 crew and 18 port staff are unavailable because of covid. This equates to a covid absence rate of 9% amongst vessel crews and 5% amongst port staff and is in addition to a non-coronavirus absence rate of 6%.
Mr Drummond added: "We fully appreciate the difficulties these changes will cause for some of our customers, and we apologise for any disruption that may result. However, because this situation is changing rapidly, we must protect core services, which is why we are now having to introduce this temporary timetable."
Scotrail changes from Tuesday
Scotrail has also been struggling with hundreds of its workers needing to isolate and is bringing in a temporary timetable from Tuesday 4th January, which will last until 28th January.
It will mainly affect services in the central belt with nine routes in and out of Glasgow's two biggest stations operating differently between Mondays and Fridays, while three routes to and from Edinburgh Waverley are also being temporarily cut back.
Scotland's busiest service, Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk High, is unaffected by the changes.
A full list of the changes can be found on the ScotRail website.
David Simpson, ScotRail Operations Director, said:  "Like most businesses, ScotRail is not immune to the impact of coronavirus. 
"We've been working flat out to run a safe and reliable railway in really difficult and rapidly changing circumstances. 
"We've looked to spread these changes out across the day where possible to minimise the impact on our customers, but people should plan ahead and continue to check the train times right up until they arrive at the station. "