THE head of Glasgow’s subway operator has said commuters in the West of Scotland are still likely to face service cuts despite the approval of a £9 million government rescue package.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson announced that financial support will be put place for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Edinburgh Trams from July to the end of September to ensure services can continue to run in the face of a continued decline in passengers.

Matheson said both services provide “key connections” within Scotland’s two biggest cities and said any restrictions would have placed unsustainable demands on other modes of transport, particularly buses.

However, while welcoming the funding, Dr Martin Bartos, chairman of SPT, said it fails to cover losses incurred from March to June.

SPT, which also runs a network of bus services, has said it anticipating losses of between £12.5m and £20m because the majority of its income is sourced from the subway, which experienced a 97% drop in passenger numbers in March.

Dr Bartos said: “This funding package is designed to address the losses which SPT now faces from July to September and goes some way towards recognising the important work of SPT bus and subway teams during this global public health emergency to help key workers and the public undertake necessary journeys.

“While the announcement of additional funding is welcome, it fails to cover the losses from March to June and does not recognise the changed landscape which future public transport faces beyond September.

“Without further support addressing the millions of pounds of losses already incurred during lockdown doing as government requested, and without clarity of how additional costs can be managed beyond September, I believe people in the West of Scotland will face

future cuts to public transport.”