TRAIN and bus services in Scotland are to be scaled back because of coronavirus, the Transport Secretary has announced.

Michael Matheson told MSPs that operators were planning to change timetables because of a dramatic fall in passengers in recent days.

Ferry services were also expected to be reduced, he said. 

He told Holyrood’s connectivity committee that Scotrail had seen a 30 per cent fall in demand since Monday alone.

“Consequently a reduced level of service from ScotRail is being planned urgently,” he said.

He said Network Rail was training extra staff to maintain signals and control rooms.

He said the nightly Caledonian Sleeper operated by Serco may also stop running north of the central belt, with trains running between London and Glasgow and Edinburgh only "due to lack of demand on the service".

That would mean Sleeper trains no longer taking in Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen.

He said no decision had yet been taken yet, but it was being looked at as an option.

He said a less frequent Sleeper service was also possible in future.

Mr Matheson said initial data from concessionary bus travel schemes had shown a drop of around 20 per cent since the start of the week.

Commercial fares were expected to be down by a similar level.

He said bus operators were now considering timetable changes “to manage the drop in patronage” as well as staff problems.

He said the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland would issue new guidance to bus operators who needed to make changes to registered services.

Mr Matheson said the airline industry was also experiencing “extreme pressure”, with a fal in demand of 70 to 80%, and that some airlines around the world would fail.

He said Loganair was expected to remove some aircraft from its fleet with a reduced level of service resulting, but schedules would ensure island communities were not cut off entirely.

He also said there were signs of a potential upturn in freight services through Prestwick Airport.

Mr Matheson said ferry services operated by CalMac in the Western Isles and Serco in the Northern Isles would come under financial pressure and would have to reduce services in future, perhaps prioritising freight and medical goods over passenger services.

He said there was “no way”  ferry services could be sustained at their present level through Government funding, but lifeline services to islands would be maintained, albeit at a lower level. 

He said inter-island ferries with small crews could be particularly badly hit if staff went off sick, and they could face “particular challenges”.

He said the frequency of larger sailings also could be scaled back to spread crew around the system in the “very difficult circumstances we are facing”.