A FLAGSHIP bus service which promised to cut journey times to and from Scotland's newest hospital will not be ready when the first staff and patients arrive on site.

Fastlink, a dedicated shuttle service connecting Glasgow city centre to the new South Glasgow hospital in Govan, will not be up and running by April 24 when the renal dialysis units from the Western and Royal Infirmaries transfer across along with some outpatient and GP out-of-hours services.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), the public body charged with delivering the service, is understood to have hit a stalemate in negotiations with commercial operators who want to run buses on the route because of the strict requirements for Fastlink branded fleet.

Bus companies running Fastlink services are expected to provide smart ticketing technology, comply with tough emissions targets, cleanliness standards, driver training, and ensure all vehicles are accessible low floor buses and fitted with CCTV.

In many cases this will mean operators need to invest in new vehicles.

Although timetables and fares can be set by the operator, they must also meet a minimum criteria - including at least two services per hour Monday-Friday and one per hour at weekends, and operating hours of at least 6am to 11pm seven days a week.

Bus operators are required to notify the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland at least 70 days before they commence a new service. However, with ten weeks to go until the first staff arrive, no bus company has signalled its intention to launch Fastlink services.

It is understood talks were called at the end of January between operators and SPT to iron out plans for Fastlink, but ended in deadlock with SPT reluctant to compromise on its fleet specifications.

SPT said a "number of bus operators" were interested in running Fastlink services and the intention was always to have it in place once the hospital is fully open, currently scheduled for mid-June.

However, it comes as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland warned that staff are quitting over parking shortages at the new hospital.

Anne Thomson, RCN officer for Glasgow, said: "Improving public transport links to the new hospital site from across the Glasgow will undoubtedly help some staff get to work safely and on time. But the current stalemate on new bus routes means that with only a few weeks until the first staff members start work in the new hospital they are no closer to knowing if getting the bus will be the solution for them."

Fastlink has been promoted as a quick and low cost alternative to the car, with segregated bus lanes and priority traffic lights expected to cut 20 per cent off the journey time.

The route incorporates pick-up points at Buchanan Street bus station, Queen Street and Central stations, before cutting down York Street and along the Broomielaw via the Squinty Bridge, Pacific Drive and Govan Road.

The £842m hospital super-campus, which was also completed five weeks early, will replace the Victoria and Western Infirmaries, Yorkhill hospital, Southern General and Mansionhouse Unit, and employ some 10,000 staff.

A spokesman for the Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland, which represents bus operators, said: "Discussions between bus operators and SPT concerning Fastlink and bus services to the South Glasgow University Hospital Campus are continuing, with CPT and its operator members having submitted responses to SPT's draft specification for the Fastlink scheme.

"The potential early opening of the hospital campus may come too soon for Fastlink but the campus will be served by existing frequent bus services in the intervening period."

A spokeswoman for SPT said the strict criteria for Fastlink "will ensure that operators adopt higher standards of vehicles which will comply with the latest criteria, particularly in terms of low floor accessibility and carbon emissions".

She added: "A number of operators have already expressed an interest in running services along the route and adhering to that standard."