Concerned residents hit out over public transport links
SOUTH Lochaber residents say they feel cut off fas a result of poor bus services.
People living in Glencoe and Kentallen say they have no choice but to go to Fort William for work, shopping or a day out because there are not enough buses to Oban.
A concerned resident in Glencoe, who has been a bus user for years, said: ‘ People feel they have no choice but to go to Fort William for the day or for jobs, even though they want to go to Oban.
‘ This is a tourism place and people want a day out. They would love to be able to go to Oban but they don’t have the means to do so, so their only option is to go to Fort William.
‘Aren’t we meant to be an open society? How about some choices? There are a lot of people who don’t have vehicles to travel in.
‘I worked in Oban and my husband had to take me every day – that’s four journeys in and out every day – which was twice the expense or more than if I had been able to get a bus.’
Kentallen resident Sally Morris highlighted concerns about West Coast Motors changing its 918 service from Fort William to Oban from April 24. Currently a bus leaves Fort William at 7pm, but because of ‘insufficient demand’ the service is being withdrawn, to be replaced with a 5.10pm bus.
Sharon Morrison, commercial manager at West Coast Motors, said the changes come following a CityLink timetable change from Inverness to Fort William. She said the 5.10pm service would ensure people getting off the Inverness bus can continue their journey onto Oban. ‘Currently there isn’t the demand for the 7pm service, so it has been withdrawn to allow for connectivity of passengers coming from Inverness and getting off in Fort William then continuing on to Oban because we recognise there is a high demand for people from Oban going to Inverness.
‘Our timetables are not set in stone and we will continue to monitor the demand on these services to meet customer requirements.’
Ms Morris said: ‘ When I moved to Glencoe originally, I was of working age and there were plenty of jobs in Oban I could have applied for, but because I don’t drive there would be no way I could get there.
‘ I don’t get to go to Oban as much as I would like to because the buses are just so bad. People from all over the world use these bus services and want to go from Oban to Fort William or vice versa for the day.’
West Coast Motors added it runs a commuter service from Appin to Oban but north of this there is not enough demand. People wishing to get to Oban from Lochaber can do so by using other network services, but will not be able to go directly from Fort William to Oban before 9am.
Fort William and Ardnamurchan councillor Andrew Baxter said: ‘ The fundamental problem is the level of demand doesn’t necessarily match the viability of a service.
‘ I think it will be very difficult to convince either the Highland Council or bus operators to increase services when there have been massive funding cuts this year that has seen services completely cease elsewhere in the Highlands.
‘One possible solution is to make better use of community transport. There is a Loch Leven community minibus that is under used I would hope that organisation would look at filling a gap in service.’
Also commenting on the 44 Stagecoach bus service, the Glencoe resident said: ‘ The buses are horrible. They are all old second-hand ones.
‘ How can these people think this is good enough?
‘ But people are scared. People have said to me don’t say anything because if you complain they will take the buses away.’
Stagecoach North Scotland said it has upgraded some of the vehicles in Fort William since 2012, removing vehicles that were not DDA compliant and replacing them with newer vehicles.
A spokesperson said: ‘ Our fleet of buses in Fort William are in a regular maintenance schedule.
‘ Each vehicle is taken out of service every 21 days for strict checks and maintenance in line with our company policy.
‘ In addition to this, every vehicle is washed each night before beginning service the following day.’