Bus service disruption to continue for six weeks

Manx bus drivers have a two week notice period after handing in their resignation

Disruption to Manx public bus services is set to continue for six weeks while new drivers receive training to plug timetable gaps, the infrastructure minister has said.

Passengers have faced a raft of cancellations to the island's public bus services in recent weeks due to a lack of qualified bus drivers.

Tim Crookall MHK said the operator Bus Vannin was "trying to keep on top" of the situation and apologised to users who had been affected.

He confirmed eight new staff members had been recruited, to fill most of the 10 full-time vacancies, and said it could take up to six weeks to complete their training.

Resignations and retirements

The frequency of Sunday services has been reduced, and a science, technology, engineering and maths event aimed at Manx primary school children was also postponed due to issues with transport amid the shortages.

Crookall said the service was "well used" so he understood the frustrations of those who found themselves waiting at stops for cancelled buses.

He added he was confident, once the new recruits were trained and had passed the required tests, services would be "back to near normal".

But as the vacancies had been created due to resignations and retirements, the minister said: "I can't say it's never going to happen again."

"Hopefully we're on the way to resolving this and things are getting better," he said.

Following a consultation on the service, Crookall said the routes and frequencies of services across the island would "be looked at" as part of the creation of a new bus strategy, set to be put together in line with a wider transport strategy.

The process was "making us look at what we deliver, how we deliver it" and consider "if it is working properly for us", he added.