501 bus route in doubt

THE wheels are coming off bus transport provision in Dumfries again — after another operator announced it will be withdrawing services on a key route. The 501 Dumfries to Kirkcudbright and Castle Douglas service is up in the air because the company that replaced Stagecoach last summer cannot continue this particular route. McCalls Coaches was the only firm that stepped up to take it over when the entire 501 service was at risk. However, the partially-subsidised commercial contract was only for 12-months – and was to be reviewed halfway through. Ad now the Lockerbie-based company have confirmed that, despite a £60,000 subsidy, the 501 service has not been “commercially viable”. As such, McCalls will now be forced to stop the service from August. Swestrans (The South West of Scotland Transport Partnership) has four months to try and find an alternative bus company for the route – despite the fact that McCalls was the only one willing to take on the contract last year. Simon Bradbury, from Swestrans, gave an update at the latest Swestrans meeting, explaining that the subsidy aimed to make the 501 bus service more financially viable. He wrote: “McCalls Coaches confirmed to SWestrans and council officers in a meeting on March 9, that they would not operate the 501 Monday to Saturday daytime service from August 2026 without subsidy.” McCalls had effectively been providing two different services on the 501 route: Monday-Saturday daytime (commercial and partially subsidised), and Monday-Saturday evening and Sunday (fully subsidised). The firm confirmed they are not making enough money on the commercial part of the deal so will pull out after 12 months. As a result, Swestrans will not renew the fully subsidised element of the agreement either. Simon Bradbury wrote: “It is recommended that the contract for the 501 Monday to Saturday evening and Sunday service, currently also operated by McCalls Coaches, is terminated and included with the remainder of the 501 service as one commercial opportunity. “This will represent the opportunity to obtain best value and maximise the attractiveness of the 501 service to potential operators.” However, Nith Councillor Keith Walters said: “I would hope that we are very confident that we are able to procure something as a full bundle rather than than taking it off that operator, terminating that contract, and then discovering that we are unable to procure the whole 501 service. Is that not a risk?” Replying, Mr Bradbury replied: “The decision of McCalls to not operate that service on a commercial base moving forwards presents the opportunity to procure the service as one single route, the same as we do with the majority of other routes across the network.” A spokesperson for McCalls said: “At present, we are unable to comment due to legalities regarding the bus contract.”