More changes to bus services across the Highlands, plus free travel for NHS workers in Inverness, in bid to help tackle coronavirus situation
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Stagecoach Highland is making more changes to its timetables in response to government advice on avoiding non-essential travel.
Further revised timetables will be in place from Monday and are now available at stagecoachbus.com and will operate across the region until further notice.
Following an analysis of the demand for bus services in the area at this time, the frequency of most services will be reduced but will still cater for essential shopping trips to be made. Feedback received since last Monday (March 23) has been used to develop the reduced timetables and will better cater for shift patterns of key workers who still rely on the bus to commute to work.
The company is also offering free travel to NHS workers in the Inverness area who need to travel to or from Raigmore Hospital and New Craigs between 7pm and 10pm. The free dial-a-bus should be booked by NHS staff no later than the day prior to travel, information on how to book this service is available by emailing highland.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com
David Beaton, managing director for Stagecoach Highland, said: “We continue to play a crucial role in ensuring that key workers, such as NHS staff and the people vital to the food supply chain, can get into work.
“We have worked hard with our temporary timetables to ensure that we are continuing to serve critical routes. If our customers feel we haven’t got things quite right, then we’d really like to receive any comments through our dedicated feedback form which can be found at stagecoachbus.com
“I’m extremely proud of the way in way our team across the Highlands is pulling together to ensure that we can continue to deliver our services. They are key workers too and I would like to thank them for their continued support and resilience in these challenging times.”
In addition to enhanced cleaning regimes, Stagecoach has taken extensive action to protect the safety of its customers and staff with a number of additional measures. Contactless payments are being encouraged wherever possible and social distancing guidelines are being displayed on buses.
Related article: Changes to bus services across the Highlands, including Inverness, to combat coronavirus
