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Limited buses for ACT

A delayed ANZAC Day holiday for bus drivers results in reduced service in Canberra in April

Bus services in Canberra will free, but less frequent than usual on the Monday after Anzac Day, due to a shortage of available staff. 

Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Shane Rattenbury says since ANZAC Day falls on a Saturday this year, a service holiday for Action bus drivers will be observed on Monday 27 April.

“To their credit, 200 staff have indicated a willingness to work that day. A normal Monday operation requires 670 drivers,” he says.

“The 200 drivers will allow ACTION to run a Saturday timetable on Monday the 27th, as well as some additional 900 and 950 Rapid services, which are the equivalent to the weekday Red and Blue Rapids.”

It is not an ideal scenario, Rattenbury says, but having free services should help to offset any inconvenience to the public.

“Unfortunately, the current ACTION enterprise agreement is such that staff rostering on weekends and designated holidays is undertaken on a voluntary basis,” Rattenbury says.

“We have been working with staff and unions for several weeks in order to determine the number of staff willing to work on this day and thus, the level of service we are able to provide.

 “The Saturday timetable has been chosen because it is familiar to many customers and because it provides services from 6.30am to 11.30pm.

“Passengers will be asked to tag on and off with their MyWay card as usual, but no fares will be deducted.”

Rattenbury says that there will be no dedicated school services to non-government schools, which will still be open on the day, but public schools will observe a service holiday.

“Given the majority of Canberra’s workforce will still need to go to work on the day, ACTION’s focus will be providing regular services as far as possible with their limited driver resources,” he says.

“Unfortunately, the Saturday timetable cannot accommodate connections to school services.

“Given that a Saturday timetable means that connections to school services cannot be guaranteed, this is the best approach to ensure children and parents aren’t left in uncertainty about which services they can catch.”

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