Ontario’s transportation minister is stressing that reductions across the GO Train network are “temporary in nature” as Metrolinx slashes service on some routes amid crew issues.

On Saturday, Metrolinx announced it would be reducing service on several of its routes until next spring, after offering enhanced service during the summer.

“As ridership patterns return to more typical levels, we’re making seasonal schedule adjustments,” the transit agency wrote in a post.

The changes predominantly affect weekend routes in and out of Toronto, with rush hour service unaffected.

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The new schedule, in place until at least the spring, will see weekend service on Lakeshore East and West cut from 15 to 30 minutes and trips on the Barrie, Stouffville and Niagara lines replaced with buses.

“All of those changes are temporary in nature,” Sarkaria said on Tuesday.

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The move to bus routes,  the minister said, will allow track work to take place when trains aren’t running, improving the lines for when service is ready to resume.

“Let’s take, for example, the Niagara Line that we have right now, where there have been some reductions,” he added.

“That round trip is taking close to three hours because of slow zones imposed by CN in some parts of the track for repair work. What we’ve done is said, let’s supplement some of those with bus routes because they’re a bit faster just now, and that will allow for more work to be done on that line.”

Sarkaria did not say what had precipitated the service cuts from Metrolinx, which the agency has said will be in place until at least the spring.