Here is  a transcript of the article which appeared in The Glasgow Evening Times today, 7th March, 2016.

A GLASGOW MP has lodged a motion in Parliament urging a bus firm to rethink plans to scrap a vital hospital bus link.

As reported by the Evening Times, Stagecoach announced they would withdraw the G1 and G2 bus services from Maryhill to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in April.

Patricia Ferguson, Labour MSP for the Maryhill and Springburn area, has put forward the motion Holyrood calling for the bus firm to reconsider.

Supported by nine of her Labour colleagues, the motion states “Parliament regrets the decision by the bus operator, Stagecoach, to end the G1 and G2 services on 23 April 2016.”

“The operator has indicated that the number of passengers using the services is not high enough to make it sustainable” and urges “Stagecoach to consider continuing to operate the services but at a reduced frequency so that they can still be available to passengers.”

It also states the services “provide an important link between many of the communities of north Glasgow and a vital, direct connection to the Queen Elizabeth University hospital.”

The MSP has suggested the “only real remedy in such situations would be a form of bus regulation that gave local communities a say in the operation of buses in their areas.”

Ms Ferguson has launched a petition on her website and has also contacted Stagecoach to make the case for the service to keep running.

SNP politicians have also started their own petition on the same issue, and are to meet with SPT today to discuss alternative options to the service.

Stagecoach West Scotland boss Tom Bridge previously told the Evening timesthat the decision to remove the service had been impacted by the passenger numbers on the route but also by the firm’s depot move from Blochairn to Cumbernauld.

He said: ” We launched the G1 and G2 in August 2015 as entirely new, high frequency routes and have made considerable investment in these services to try and make them economically viable.

“Unfortunately we have not been able to attract enough new customers to make these routes sustainable resulting in the company suffering heavy loses on the routes since their launch.

“In addition we have also announced plans to relocate our Glasgow operations to a new base in Cumbernauld which is part of a £4m investment in bus services in the area.

“We hope these changes will allow us to focus on our core network of services to the east of Glasgow and build a sustainable bus network for the future.”

THE PETITION CAN BE FOUND HERE –

http://www.patriciaferguson.co.uk/