Bus operator in German region suspends service due to energy crisis

BERLIN (AA) - Nearly all local and school buses in the Vogtland region in the German state of Saxony are canceled after a bus operator and the local government have failed to agree on a contract adjustment.

The dispute has a months-long background. As early as October, the local operator BG Bus demanded a contract change due to rising energy costs and a high level of sick leave, among other things, and threatened to stop service. It was initially averted.

BG Bus terminated the transport contracts at short notice on Thursday. Allegedly, the county demanded a six-figure amount of subsidies made back.

The spokesman for the local transport association Vogtland, Fabian Holst, told the Sachsische Zeitung newspaper that he informed the people in advance about the bus cancelations through all possible channels.

Passengers and parents had been called upon to form carpools. The parent chats were "running hot," Holst said.

The transport association is trying to organize emergency transport as quickly as possible, according to Holst. In doing so, they are relying on subcontractors from the existing providers.

As reported by daily newspaper Freie Presse, some parents refused to send their children to school. Other Vogtlanders wondered how to get to work or the doctor, according to the newspaper.