Bus operator cancels more than 100 services a day - but won't tell passengers what will be running tomorrow

Passengers in Greater Manchester are still losing more than 100 bus services a day as an operator continues to cut services amid a staffing crisis. Rosso, which runs routes mainly in the north of the conurbation, had already cut nearly 200 journeys by 4pm on Wednesday - and the evening was expected to bring more cancellations.

The Manchester Evening News reported on Tuesday how Rosso had cut more than 800 journeys last week. The operator, a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, said they expected the issue to have ‘severely diminished’ by next week. But bosses were yet to overcome their recruitment challenges at the mid-point of this week.

Many of the services scrapped are those subsidised by the taxpayer, meaning they make less of a profit but are seen as vital community routes. By Wednesday afternoon, there had been 193 cancellations in total, while throughout Tuesday there were 133. The M.E.N has repeatedly asked Rosso for guidance on which services are likely to be cancelled in the days ahead to give passengers a heads-up - but they are yet to respond on this.

READ MORE: Greater Manchester bus operator cancels more than 800 services in just one week as they battle staff shortages

Among a raft of cancellations on Wednesday evening, nine services of the Trax 468 between Rochdale and Bury were due to be dropped; 14 journeys on the Tottington Line 469 were facing the cut, and eight scheduled trips on the B2 Bury to Mount Pleasant route had also been scrapped.

It comes as mayor Andy Burnham and other Greater Manchester leaders prepare to take control of the buses following a legal ruling in March. It paves the way for sweeping changes to how services are run in Greater Manchester, with decisions over timetables and