Buses blast

Your report on the Lothian Buses boss being “unable to guarantee £20 million trams cash” is not altogether surprising given recent performance.

Their inadequacies are clear to all and way below the standards a public company should tolerate; bullying allegations, squandering money on a fleet of buses that cannot be used in Edinburgh, wanton waste of money on abusive private plates and their disdain for the mothers and babies in buggies, are all symptoms of their incompetence. The crowning glory however is their acquiescence to being sucked into supporting the tram extension; £20m is a lot of profits for any sizeable company to find, but almost impossible for one run so badly.

Lothian buses’ board of directors has undermined the long term viability of the company; by not putting up the argument about future dividends they are seen to be complicit, by agreeing to cut by half the number of buses going to Leith (forcing passengers on to the trams ), they are seen to be in flag rant dereliction of their duties as directors. No company can

afford to lose in excess of £10m per year from their turnover, especially from what are some of their most profitable routes.

If Lothian Buses is currently struggling to find the requisite dividends then it is almost guaranteed that its long-term viability is in question. If this were a publicly listed company and not one supervised by a number of vested interested councillors, the current board would be cleared out and experienced, independently minded directors appointed who would have the health of the company as their primary objective.

JOHN RT CARSON Kirkliston Road, South

Queensferry