SHANE Rattenbury is warning that ACTION will be providing modified bus services on Monday 27 April 2015 as a result of a service holiday. To help offset any disruption, the services will be free all day.

“This year ANZAC Day (25 April) falls on a Saturday and therefore, according to the ACT Government’s enterprise agreement, a service holiday will be observed on Monday 27 April,” Shane said.

“However, this date is not recognised as a general public holiday for the remainder of the ACT. As a result, operation of a full weekday bus service will not be feasible as a full workforce is not available.

“Unfortunately, the current ACTION enterprise agreement is such that staff rostering on weekends and designated holidays is undertaken on a voluntary basis.

“We have been working with staff and unions for several weeks in order to determine the number of staff willing to work on this day and thus, the level of service we are able to provide.

“To their credit, 200 staff have indicated a willingness to work that day. A normal Monday operation requires 670 drivers.

“The 200 drivers will allow ACTION to run a Saturday timetable on Monday the 27th, as well as some additional 900 and 950 Rapid services, which are the equivalent to the weekday Red and Blue Rapids.

“The Saturday timetable has been chosen because it is familiar to many customers and because it provides services from 6.30 am to 11.30 pm. To help compensate for any inconvenience, Monday 27 April will be a fare free day. Passengers will be asked to tag on and off with their MyWay card as usual, but no fares will be deducted.

“There will be no dedicated school services to non-Government schools, which will still be open on the day. ACT Public Schools will also observe a service holiday.

“Given the majority of Canberra’s workforce will still need to go to work on the day, ACTION’s focus will be providing regular services as far as possible with their limited driver resources and, unfortunately, the Saturday timetable cannot accommodate connections to school services.

“Given that a Saturday timetable means that connections to school services cannot be guaranteed, this is the best approach to ensure children and parents aren’t left in uncertainty about which services they can catch.

“Parents of children at non-Government schools are encouraged to make alternative arrangements to get their children to and from school if they normally rely on dedicated school runs.

“The ACT Government is offering to provide traffic management support to non Government schools worried about an increase in vehicle traffic resulting from parents transporting their children to and from school.

“We are making this announcement now to give passengers over a month to make choices and have certainty around their travel on the day. I encourage passengers to plan their journey and visit the ACTION website – www.action.act.gov.au – for more information.”

UPDATE: Shane’s office has been in touch with this clarification:

The Monday after ANZAC day is a holiday for all ACT Government public servants – including teachers, directorate staff, rangers, health staff etc – as well as ACT government school children, not just bus drivers.