Stagecoach passengers in Inverness vent anger over ‘return’ to cancellation woes of recent years
Fed up bus passengers have vented their fury after dozens of Stagecoach buses were axed in Inverness on Friday due to "staff sickness".
Almost 50 individual bus journeys were withdrawn from Friday's normal timetable on routes one, two and three.
And it is not the only time in recent weeks that cancellations have wrought havoc on the timetable, with passengers saying they are at the end of their tether after a seeming return to the unreliability issues which bedevilled the operator in Inverness last spring and summer.
Cancellations became such a frequent occurrence last year that in some weeks, cancellations numbered well into triple figures.
At the time Stagecoach blamed the issues on a shortage of drivers caused by a range of factors, and stressed it was working hard to recruit and train new staff.
Speaking last summer, a spokesperson for the operator said: “"The skills shortage that we, like many others, are continuing to experience is due to several factors, and unfortunately there is no quick fix.
"Whilst we are working hard on recruitment, holidays (particularly now the school term has ended), and sickness do have an impact."
Those assurances initially appeared to bear out as disruption gradually eased over the subsequent weeks and months.
However, the issue of journeys being axed at short notice appears to have reared its head once again this autumn, with almost 50 journeys cancelled on Friday alone - and passengers hit by today's disruption flocking to social media to complain that this is no isolated incident.
Jan Duncan said: "This has been an issue for weeks. The 2 and 3 have become very unreliable and according to not just one driver but a few this is down to shortage of staff not through sickness as Stagecoach say but drivers leaving due to being forced into overtime."
Hilary Prosser added: "It has been like this for weeks. App is unreliable. Buses cancelled which serve hospitals resulting in missed appointments and buses which some children rely on to get from town to school and back. Totally unacceptable for those of us who rely on public transport."
Others made reference to the spate of severe disruption which struck in previous years.
"And so it starts again..... thought it had been good for too long!!!!" said Debbie Pickering.
Audrey Whitfield added: "It is not fair the No 2 and No 3 services always being targeted. I remember a couple of years back it being impossible to get a 2 or 3 for about 1.5 hours every afternoon.
"I think I complained then and was told it was because they had the most buses. If they have to cancel why not do it to every second bus right across the board or something?"
Others meanwhile, placed the blame squarely at the lack of any competition for Stagecoach, meaning that there were no significant consequences if or when services were sub-par.
CW Zandra said: "Yes people get sick but this is ongoing and [the] company need to look into ways to promote more employees, with incentives, pay etc.
"If not they should move over and let another company take over… no point in giving free pass passes to children, over 60s etc if they are left stranded during the day and night!!!"
And others wanted councils and governments to take action to hold the operator to account.
Ruaridh Arrow said: "These are the conditions for winning a contract to provide a bus service. Having enough drivers to cover sickness is part of the legal requirement. Stagecoach have been consistently in breach of this contract."
Campbell Brand added: "The primary aim of any private business is profit. This is why no public service or utility should be in private hands."
