New night service could launch in Glasgow, First Bus rival McGill's boss reveals

One of First Bus’ biggest rivals has said it is “very serious” about running night bus services in Glasgow.

Ralph Roberts, CEO of McGill’s Buses, told BBC Radio Scotland that the operator is “very serious” about taking on the services being axed on July 31 by First Glasgow.

He said the firm’s “first priority is to serve our daytime customers”, but that it was considering running four night routes to start with.

He said these could include services from Glasgow city centre to Paisley, through Bellahouston and and Cardonald; the Govan route to Drumoyne through Renfrew and on to Paisley; Easterhouse along Alexandra Parade; and a route out to Pollok and Nitshill.

It comes after First Glasgow cancelled its night buses, saying as few as 14 people an hour were using them.

The change, due to come into force at the end of the month, will impact 11 routes that operate across the city in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings.

They include services in the city centre across Glasgow and the surrounding areas such as Clydebank, Paisley, Newton Mearns, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Motherwell and Wishaw.

The transport operator said drivers employed on the night buses will be redeployed to daytime services.

Mr Roberts previously said: “We know there is a level of demand for night-time bus services and if Glasgow is to thrive as a city, it needs companies such as McGill’s together with city leaders to see what we can achieve.”

McGill’s co-owner Sandy Easdale added: “We have invested in a state-of-the-art fleet for McGill’s Group to serve Glasgow and James and I have also invested personally in the city.

“We want Glasgow to be successful and it needs to be successful. If people stop coming into the city at night to support the entertainment and leisure industry, they might just stop coming during the day as well. That would be a disaster for the local economy.”