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UNDER-FIRE Stagecoach cancelled so many bus services in Inverness over just 10 days that, if the same rate continued for a year, nearly 11,000 journeys would be axed.
Stagecoach Highland cancelled 297 timetabled services in Inverness over a single 10-day window between May 18 and yesterday (Saturday) – a figure which, if it continued over 365 days instead of just 10, would equate to 10,841 separate cancellations.
The jaw-dropping figure, which critics argue illustrates the scale of the problems facing the city’s beleaguered public transport network, has sparked fury from fed-up passengers – who have long complained about the volume of bus cancellations in the city and the operator’s frequent redrawing of its timetables as it tries to plug gaps in staffing levels.
Earlier this year, Stagecoach moved to apologise to passengers over cancellations to services and repeated changes to its timetables, adding that staffing shortages caused by the Covid pandemic, lockdown, and impact of Brexit, were having a major effect on its operation.
At the time they said they were actively working to train up new drivers in a bid to fill those gaps.
But, with issues still continuing months later, fed-up passengers are asking when that day will come.
Alasdair McBride branded the entire situation “horrendous”. He said: “It’s absolutely horrendous trying to work out each month which service will be running and which is cancelled while trying to get to Raigmore on time for urgent treatment which is life long.
Related: Almost 300 Stagecoach Highland buses in Inverness cancelled in just 10 days
“I hate being late as it has a knock-on effect on other patients after me. They seriously need to buck up their ideas – Stagecoach are a joke.”
Others were equally critical. Gerry Reynolds quipped: “At what point is it inappropriate to call it a bus service? A bus lottery seems more accurate.”
To which Bob Mackay witheringly added: “Well, I have called it a ‘disservice’ for over 20 years now – nothing in the intervening period has changed my mind!”
Passengers are also worried that things were not getting any better.
Debbie Pickering said: “It’s getting worse… if that’s possible.”
And Jan Duncan added: “The taxi firms must be rubbing their hands with glee with all this extra work.”
Others urged Stagecoach to pay its drivers more in a bid to entice more people into the vacancies.
Catherine Gilchrist said: “Maybe if you treated the staff better and stood by them then they wouldn’t keep leaving.”
James Fraser added: “Pay the drivers more then you would not have those problems. Drivers trained must cost a lot – pay them a bit more. Time to get a grip Stagecoach or you will not have any passengers.”
Responding to the outrage, Stagecoach said it hopes the issue will ease in the near future as it has 40 “active applications in progress” for potential drivers.
They said: “We understand that cancellations are frustrating for our customers who need to travel, and we are sorry for the disruption that some customers are currently experiencing.
“However, over 98 per cent of journeys are operating as normal across the Inverness city network [today]. We have over 40 active applications in progress, and customers should see a positive impact from this going forward.
“In the event that a service has to be cancelled, we always look to provide as much notice as we possibly can to enable people to make alternative arrangements.
“Customers can contact our customer service team at [email protected] about refunds for tickets they were unable to use due to service cancellation as per the ticket terms and conditions.”
The 98 per cent figure quoted by Stagecoach was accurate for the specific day they responded. However, over a full 10-day period the average worked out at roughly 92.5 per cent, with some individual days seeing around 86.5 per cent of services running – meaning one in seven buses didn’t operate.
For some individual routes, the percentage was worse. Yesterday (Saturday) 20 out of 55 timetabled journeys for the number 2 service were axed – meaning just 64 per cent of its journeys actually ran and that one in three of its buses didn’t operate.