In Prague, several suburban lines did not work due to a lack of drivers
In the Prague Integrated Transport (PID), the operation of thirteen bus lines had to be interrupted today, mostly in the territory of the capital. The reason is the lack of drivers combined with high sickness. Therefore, some timetables will be adjusted. The issues could be resolved by the end of this week. Filip Drápal, spokesman for the Ropid organization, which plans Prague public transport, told ČTK.
Specific information is available on the website SPAN. PID includes Prague and Central Bohemia public transport. Other regions are also facing a shortage of bus drivers.
“This (today’s cancellation of services) is the result of a long-term shortage of drivers in combination with increased sickness,” said Drápal. Of the thirteen lines canceled today, five are outside Prague, namely lines 339, 346, 375, 377 and 658, and thus the rest, lines number 163, 166, 171, 204, 208, 209, 223 and 228, run in the capital city.
Therefore, as a first step, from Wednesday morning until the end of September, Ropid will temporarily adjust the timetables of additional midibus lines 204 and 244, which will run at intervals of 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes. “After this adjustment, the carrier Arriva City guaranteed full coverage of all connections on public transport lines from tomorrow (Wednesday),” said Drápal.
According to the spokesperson, in addition to the mentioned company, the problem also concerns ČSAD Central Bohemia in PID, but to a much lesser extent. “There, I hope that it will be possible to eliminate the outages in the horizon of that week, if not, we will have to proceed with a certain temporary restriction of timetables there as well,” added Drápal.
Three metro lines operate in Prague Transport (PID), which in the still-integrated year, according to the transport yearbook of the Technical Communications Administration (TSK), was complemented by 35 tram lines, of which 26 were daily.
There were also 171 bus lines, which were complemented by 122 suburban buses. 39 trains, seven ferries and the cable car to Petřín were also involved in the PID.
The shortage of public transport bus drivers has long plagued the Czechia. Before this year’s holidays, the Association of Transport Companies of the Czech Republic informed that about five hundred drivers were missing. Around 10,000 drivers work in domestic public transport companies. Professional drivers are also missing from freight carriers, thousands of them are missing.