A pensioner has launched an online petition to reinstate a bus service axed during the pandemic.
Arthur Ramsay, 71, is angry at the loss of the evening Stagecoach service to Locharbriggs and Heathhall.
He claims 10,000 potential passengers are left without public transport to and from Dumfries after 8.20pm.
And he branded the lack of services as a form of “regional apartheid”.
Mr Ramsay, a retired teacher, said: “The evening bus service No.1/2 run by Stagecoach has not been re-instated since it was removed at the height of the pandemic.
“It’s outrageous. Pensioners don’t go out and this does not help the Dumfries town centre economy when people cannot get in or out after a certain time at night.
“We cannot visit, or be visited by friends, or family, or attend leisure or cultural events, socialise, or visit medical facilities, without walking up to four miles there and back. This puts people in danger, especially single women such as nurses and other hospital workers, the disabled and the elderly, from injury or attack if it is dark.
“I have put together a petition, having waited in vain for local politicians or Stagecoach to do any thing about it.”
He added: “It is time that people in Dumfries and Galloway had decent bus services. Since putting the petition up I have had hundreds of responses and one person told me they had to walk back from Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary at night, which is awful, and also people walking on the bypass for some distance. This has affected a lot of people.”
Joint council leader Linda Dorward said: “As the local councillor for Lochar Ward I am extremely disappointed that the last Number 1 bus from Dumfries to Locharbriggs continues to be at 20.19hrs.
“Constituents have raised their concerns with me, as they have challenges returning to Locharbriggs after this time, either when they finish work or have been into Dumfries for a social event. Buses were cut from this route during the pandemic and Locharbriggs residents expected that these services would be re-introduced.
“This route is a commercial service, run primarily as a profit-making enterprise. As such it receives no public funding and unfortunately it is unlikely at present that timings will be changed by the contract provider – currently Stagecoach.
“Dumfries and Galloway Council are looking at ways to address this challenge of shortfalls on commercial routes, but any reinstatement of the Number 1 service after 20.19hrs may require to be subsidised.
“We are entering a challenging time for bus service provision but as an administration we are ambitious, and we have listened to our constituents.
“Over the medium to long-term, we are looking at ways of developing a new public transport model, which is sustainable and supports our economy, our connectivity, our citizens and works for the public good not profit.”
