Fife buses: Stagecoach ‘working round clock’ to tackle staff shortages

Stagecoach is progressing training new drivers as quickly as possible, but it takes up to 12 weeks to prepare them to go on the road.

It appealed to anyone interested in becoming a driver to get in touch.

In recent weeks, the company has announced daily cancellations, impacting on many towns including Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Dunfermline.

The problems come after a two-year pandemic saw passenger numbers collapse.

A spokesperson for Stagecoach East Scotland said: "Bus networks across the UK are continuing to face challenges as a result of the pandemic, as well as changes in the labour market and the impact of rising cost inflation in the economy.

"We remain absolutely committed to working with Scottish Government and local authority partners, as well as other stakeholders, to deliver the best networks we can for local communities, taking account of the current difficult environment and the changes we have seen in when and how people travel.”She said the company was “working around the clock” to recruit new drivers to address the shortages affecting the wider transport and logistics sector.

She added: It can take an average of 12 weeks for a professional bus driver to be fully trained and out on the road, and our training school is progressing this as speedily as possible.

"We're recruiting for trainee bus drivers and PCV licence holders across our nine depots throughout Fife, Perth & Kinross and Angus, we would encourage those with a driving licence to visit our website for further information on how to apply.”Stagecoach accepted daily cancellations impacted on commuters, but stressed that the “great majority of journeys continue to operate as scheduled.”

“There are some short-term disruptions as a result of the changeable number of staff available to operate our services on a daily basis. All service disruptions are communicated on our Twitter account.”