IT has been another spell of controversy for Scotland's transport network, but in perhaps a surprising turn of events, not all the headlines have been made by the country’s troubled ferry service.

The wheeled variety hit the news when The Herald revealed that First Bus is to axe late-night services in Glasgow from July 31, sparking condemnation from unions, politicians, charities, and the licensed trade.

The company, a division of Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, declared that so few people have been using the late-night services that it had become financially unviable for them to continue, noting that certain routes were regularly running with as few as 14 passengers per hour.

The cuts, which will fall on 11 routes that operate in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings, come just a year after the night-time services were restored. First Bus said it had been determined to give the services “every chance to succeed, which is why we have absorbed the operating losses for the last 12 months”.

But it noted that it had “become clear… given the change in behaviour and times people are going out in the city at the weekend, there is not enough appetite for night bus services to successfully operate into the early hours”.

Such cold business logic might make perfect sense to accountants and shareholders.

But it cut little slack with those who depend on safe public transport late at night, both to return home after work and socialising in the city centre.

The move by First Bus drew fierce criticism from the embattled hospitality trade, which was already reeling from the dearth of taxi drivers that has plagued the city since Covid broke out, with the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) also stating its concerns about the impact of the new low emission zone.

“The SLTA has spoken previously about the chronic lack of late-night transport provision in Glasgow, so this is not the news we want to hear as we approach the peak tourist season,” said managing director Colin Wilkinson.

“Our fear is that people will simply not bother travelling into Glasgow city centre if getting home is going to be such a challenge. It’s extremely bad news for the city’s pubs, bars, restaurants, and clubs.”

First Bus has held firm on its decision and, in perhaps the most surprising news line to emerge as the story unfolded, its managing director suggested the firm could train bar staff to drive buses and take colleagues and customers home after their shifts. Duncan Cameron told The Herald’s Catriona Stewart, who broke the original story, that the firm could train night-time economy workers and provide flexible hours as a possible way of retaining the services. He said recruiting drivers had been the biggest factor compromising the firm’s ability to run late-night buses.

“What's to stop somebody working in a bar being volunteered to be trained by First Bus and, as part of their shift, work for First Bus doing two journeys and the night late services? It might sound a bit of a wacky idea, but it would solve the problem and provide employment,” he said.

But that was not the only surprise First Bus had in store. Following quickly arranged talks with Glasgow City Council, the company announced on Friday that it had delayed the withdrawal of the night bus services until August 20, giving more time for all parties concerned, from operators and politicians to public sector bodies and the licensed trade - to review transport provision in the city at night. The night bus, in other words, may ride again.

One wonders why they didn’t all get together to talk things through in the first place.

Meanwhile, the week brought the now-usual flurry of stories about Scotland’s struggling ferry system.

The age-old debate over whether CalMac’s Clyde and Hebrides network should be “de-bundled” to allow private companies the opportunity to run some of the routes sparked back into life, amid continuing concern over the performance and reliability of the state-owned service.

Gordon Ross, the managing director of Western Ferries (Clyde), which runs a car and passenger service between Gourock and Dunoon, has made no secret of his firm’s desire to add new routes to its portfolio, and declared this week that de-bundling should be seriously considered by government ministers.

“Scottish ministers have steadfastly refused to consider the pros and cons of de-bundling the CalMac monopoly, and this topic was removed from the remit of the recent Project Neptune review,” he said.

“Only when a detailed study has been undertaken, can the financial impact on future subsidy levels be firmly established and at the same time island communities will then be better able to make an informed decision on the best way forward.”

He added: “Only the Scottish ministers can accurately explain why they continue to protect CalMac. Scottish ministers’ protection of the bundle should be distinct from protecting CalMac or any other operator. The questions going forward are therefore whether Scottish ministers are, taking into consideration all the recent events, going to permit CalMac to tender for the next contract and is this what the island communities want.”

The contrast between Scotland’s struggling ferries and the smooth-running system that operates throughout Croatia’s extensive island network became abundantly clear to this correspondent during a recent holiday to the Balkan country and was the subject of my column this week. Like Scotland, Croatia has a state-owned ferry firm which operates major routes and runs services connecting Croatia with Italy. But there are also private ferry firms in operation in Croatia, providing a demonstration to Scotland that a different kind of ownership model – perhaps one with a degree of community-involvement - might be feasible on parts of the west coast network.

Given how important the ferries are to the prosperity of life on the west coast of Scotland, it seems only right that islanders are given the chance to play an active role in remodelling the system and how it operates going forward.