Hospital bus stair anger
X7 problem for disabled
Calls have been made to replace the buses between Perth Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital.
A councillor has branded the Stagecoach buses on the X7 route “unsuitable for the disabled” because most of the seating is up a steep flight of stairs.
Often residents and patients at the hospitals who have disabilities or visual impairments cannot use the buses as they are unable to get up the steps.
Stagecoach recently spent £1.4 million on its X56 Perth to Edinburgh route to make the coaches more accessible.
Cllr Willie Wilson, whose ward includes PRI, called for new accessible coaches to be added on the X7 route, which eventually goes on to Aberdeen.
The councillor said: “The X7 service is still blighted with coaches that are completely unsuitable for the disabled, those with visual impairment and folk whose ailments make it difficult to access steep and dangerous steps.
“It is fine to talk about WiFi access, USB charging points, air conditioning and luggage holding but what the people of Perth and indeed Dundee expect and deserve is a decent, The X7 service
low-level access bus that provides a comfortable journey between the two hospitals.
“Stagecoach’s answer is that anybody who is not happy with the X7 should take a different bus but why should disabled people, young families and the elderly have to take a second-class service and trundle through the whole of the Carse of Gowrie to gain access to either Ninewells or Perth Royal Infirmary?
“We continue to find the current situation completely unacceptable.”
A petition has been signed by a number of bus users, calling for the buses on the X7 route to be replaced.
Stagecoach says the larger coaches on the X7 route are needed to meet the demand. A spokesperson said: “The X7 vehicles fully meet DDA standards and the wheelchair space on the vehicle is accessed in the same manner as any other accessible vehicle, via a ramp deployed by the driver.
“The larger coaches used on the X7 service are required to meet the high level of demand for the luxury service therefore substituting these coaches for an alternative vehicle type would not provide sufficient capacity on the route.
“Passengers also have the option to use service 39, which operates regularly using conventional, lowfloor buses and serves as a great alternative between Ninewells and Perth Royal Infirmary.”