Ruddington’s main public transport operator is citing the rising number of Coronavirus cases and a shortage of bus drivers for its decision to reduce the number of services it will run early in the new year.
Nottingham City Transport (NCT) says it will temporarily adopt its Saturday timetable on weekdays from Monday 10th January 2022 – affecting Ruddington’s Navy 3 and Green 10 buses until further notice. Additionally its NightBuses – including the NightBus N48 back to Ruddington in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings – will be suspended.
Some good news for workers at Ruddington Fields Business Park is that the operator is pledging to retain buses here which do not run on Saturdays, however they’ll start an hour later. In the mornings, the Green 10 buses from City will extend to the Business Park (10C) at 06:35, 07:05, 07:25, 08:05, 08:45, 09:05. In the afternoons, Green 10X will depart the Business Park at 16:10, 17:11 and 18:18 to get workers back home again.
The announcement is not good for early morning Navy 3 commuters either – since buses to the City and Clifton on a Saturday also begin an hour later than on the weekday timetables, and there are no additional, earlier services planned.
NCT says it needs to adopt this revised timetable to provide a reliable service to customers, in line with the number of drivers it has available each day. Like most other transport operators, NCT is being affected by the national shortage of bus drivers, with a reported shortfall of around 5% on the number of drivers it needs to run its current timetables. In recent weeks, a further 5% of drivers have been unable to attend work whilst they self-isolate because of COVID-19, resulting in short notice cancellations.
David Astill, NCT Managing Director reveals: “Prior to Christmas, despite our best efforts, our service reliability was not at the standard our customers expect or at a standard we are happy to continue delivering. We recognise that short notice cancellations cause inconvenience to customers when an advertised bus doesn’t turn up. By adopting this revised timetable, customers will be able to plan around the level of service we feel we can confidently and consistently deliver.”
NCT’s temporary timetable has been agreed in consultation with Nottingham City Council and the operator says it will remain in place until driver availability increases. The amended timetables for all its services from January 10th are now being displayed in the NCTX Buses App and online.
Meantime NCT hopes to run its Ruddington buses as previously advertised for the remainder of the festive period. You can find details of all our village holiday services >>HERE<<.
