Urgent call for more bus info

WITH just a week to go until the end of most Stagecoach bus services in the region, more answers are being demanded from the council.

The firm will terminate its commercial routes on August 3 and is also planning to close its depots in Dumfries and Stranraer.

And Colin Smyth MSP has accused the local authority of “failing bus passengers and workers” over its continued silence on the future of local bus services—despite promising clarity weeks ago.

It was back in May that the operator revealed a dispute with the council over the terms of the new school transport contract. The firm subsequently confirmed it would pull out of school transport, subsidised and commercial bus routes locally.

Then in June, the council stated that new contracts had been awarded for subsidised bus routes and promised more information in July, along with updated timetables.

Mr Smyth yesterday pointed out that still has not happened.

He said: “We are just days away from a major upheaval in our bus network, and the public still doesn’t know which company will be running which local bus service, what the timetable will be, or whether their local bus route will even have a service.

"We’re well past the dates the council leader Stephen Thompson promised the public answers—when he made that ill-judged claim that it was ‘business as usual'."

Passengers and staff are contacting the politician 'daily', he says, adding: "Without knowing who is running what, staff are being left in legal limbo.

“The busiest routes in the region are among those being scrapped by Stagecoach—and instead of stepping up, the council tried to pretend it had no role. That’s deeply misleading. The council know the law says they must act when services are withdrawn. Yet we’ve had no plan, no assessment, and no answers. Passengers are being kept completely in the dark.

“This isn’t just about missed July deadlines—it’s about a looming cliff edge in August. The people of Dumfries and Galloway are not being given the information they need."

COLIN Smyth is calling on Dumfries and Galloway Council to:

* Immediately publish the full list of operators for each subsidised route from August, as they said they would in their 23 June press release;

* Explain what is being done to replace the commercial routes being withdrawn by Stagecoach;

* Release updated timetables, as the council committed to do by mid-July;

* Clarify the TUPE position and provide guidance to all affected staff;

Acknowledge their legal responsibilities under both the 1985 and 2019 Transport Acts to assess and act on unmet transport needs;

* Investigate why the Council’s 2021 plan to expand DGC Buses under a full operator licence has never been implemented.