Passengers across Perth and Kinross were once again left in the lurch on Monday after a staggering 143 scheduled bus departures were pulled by Stagecoach amid a deepening driver shortage crisis.
The Perth-based transport operator announced scores of scrapped services yesterday, spanning from Perth to Comrie to Dundee and to Kinross, following a similar pattern set over past two months.
The controversy comes as Stagecoach also announced yesterday the introduction of a new timetable for a number of services across the region.
The number 9 service from Perth city centre to North Muirton was the worst hit yesterday with 45 scheduled stops cut, followed by the number 1 (Perth-Letham) service with 33.
The number 7 (Hillend-Scone) service saw 22 cancellations, with services 39, x7, 15, 2, x16, 16, 14, 17, 56 and 5 also rocked with a glut of no-shows.
Public complaints have peaked over Stagecoach not keeping to the printed schedule. They inform customers of cancellations via social media leaving those without internet access or a smartphone standing waiting for a bus that is never to come.
For example, from Monday, September 26 to Sunday, October 2 a total of 310 absent departures were recorded by the PA - an average of 44 daily holes in the schedule.
Yesterday, the bus operator also announced a revised timetable following mass concerns over reduced services during the public consultation which ended on September 12.
Councillors Alasdair Bailey and John Duff both hit out at the initial proposal with particular concerns raised over the removal of early morning departures in more rural areas.
Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart and Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Jim Fairlie both previously met with Douglas Robertson, managing director of Stagecoach East, to discuss the driver shortages and concerns over the plans to cut services.
The PA can reveal the changes - beginning on Monday, November 7 - include the 15A service from Perth to Stirling being reduced to every two hours, however additional am and pm journeys to and from Stirling have been added after feedback from the consultation.
The X56 service from Perth and Kinross to Edinburgh will no longer run on Sundays “due to low usage” but will run hourly every other day.
The number 16 (Perth-Dundee) has had some am and pm journeys scrapped but early morning departures on the 23/27 services from Aberfeldy/Pitlochry to Perth were saved following feedback from the consultation.
However off-peak services to and from Aberfeldy have been reduced overall to “reflect current usage”.
The 34 service (Perth–Stanley–Blairgowrie) and 57 service (Perth-Blairgowrie–Dundee) have seen their frequency on a Saturday reduced.
Two new city centre services, numbers 8 and 18, have been introduced to partly
replace the number 7 service and replace the 9 service respectively.
Services 1/2 (Tulloch/Letham–City Centre), 5/6 (Craigie–City Centre), 9 (City Centre–North Muirton), 14 (City Centre–Pitcairngreen), 15 (Perth–Crieff–Comrie) and 59 (Blairgowrie–Coupar Angus–Dundee) have also been revised.
Full timetable details of the changes had not been published by Stagecoach by the time the PA was sent for publication yesterday afternoon.
Regarding the cancelled services yesterday, Stagecoach issued apologies for all its cancellations and has previously said it is training new drivers but it will be some time before it can run its services in and around Perth as normal.
A spokesperson for Stagecoach East Scotland last month said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to passengers.
“We are making good progress with recruitment, with a number of new drivers currently moving through the training school.
“If you’re interested in a career with Stagecoach, you can view our latest vacancies at stagecoachbus.com”
