TAKING bus services in Glasgow into public control is a “golden opportunity”, a city MP has said.

Paul Sweeney, Labour MP for Glasgow North East, has welcomed the city council’s decision to explore options to take buses into public ownership.

The move was agreed by councillors after Glasgow Labour brought an emergency motion to Thursday’s full council meeting. Transport company First Group recently announced it is putting its UK operations up for sale.

“This is a golden opportunity which Glasgow City Council must seize with due urgency,” Mr Sweeney said.

“In the decades since Tory deregulation, the local remains of what was once an awesome integrated Strathclyde transport network which stretched from Oban in the north to Girvan in the south and west to Argyll and the isles has become a fragmented system

which is frankly an embarrassment for a major

city.

“As Second City of the Empire, Glasgow led the way on municipal public transport, boasting the third underground railway in the world and the largest electric tramway network in Europe.

“By contrast our modern citizens endure journeys which are slower, more expensive and less convenient.”

He added: “If it is not the purpose of our municipal government to act positively to change that when they are in a position to do so – while demanding support from their SNP colleagues in the Scottish Government – then it’s fair to ask what is the point of this timid administration at all?”

Council officers will discuss the issue, which gained momentum after the Scottish Parliament voted to include direct powers for local authorities to run bus companies in the Transport Bill, with First Group, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and other national transport partners among others.

It follows similar moves to explore public takeover of First Bus services from councils in Aberdeen and Falkirk.

Council leader Susan Aitken told councillors: “This process has already started. We are aware that there will always be barriers as long as the buses aren’t in our hands.

“The principle is one we are absolutely signed up to.”

Further developments are set to be reported to the Council’s new transport delivery working group.