Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Bus passengers claim they’re being let down by ‘unreliable service’
ANGRY Stagecoach bus users have called for the operator to reinstate an axed service in the Carse of Gowrie.
The 39 bus serves several villages between Dundee and Perth.
It was introduced in May to replace the withdrawn 16 and X7 routes, but has been hit by cancellations and delays.
Dr Sourav Banerjee is a regular user of the service, using it for the short journey to Ninewells Hospital.
“The main issue I face is when I work at Ninewells and I’m trying to come back”, he says.
“The buses are often up to 40 minutes late. When it comes to following the timetable I’m not sure if it’s doing exactly what’s it meant to do.”
Buses in Invegowrie are still running at an hourly frequency, but Kingoodie is now served by only five buses per weekday in each direction.
In Errol, Samantha is one of four passengers waiting for the 10.15am bus to Perth, which is displayed on a small screen in the bus shelter.
In March Stagecoach threatened to axe all its services through the village.
But a significant backlash helped Errol residents maintain a service, with the 39 replacing the 16 albeit running at a lower frequency of two hours.
Samantha said: “It’s always late or if it hasn’t turned up then nothing is on the screen to say if it’s there.”
Despite its poor reputation among local residents, the 39 service seems to have been running pretty smoothly in St Madoes.
But there is still anger from the passengers we meet at the village’s green stop.
“Stagecoach is badly letting us down and it’s just terrible”, says Graeme Smith.
“If you are trying to get to the (Perth) royal infirmary first thing in the morning there only seems to be one bus which is for staff, and nothing to cater for the general public.”
David Frenz, operations director for Stagecoach said: “Since launching on May 13, services 39, 39A and 39B have operated more than 98% of the scheduled 132,000 miles.
“Accordingly, we do not believe that vehicle reliability is the main cause of disruption.”
He said there was no plans to reinstate the 16 service.