Angry passengers have hit out at a series of cancellations affecting the 73 Stagecoach bus service in the Dundee area.
Customers using the route between Arbroath and Ninewells Hospital say services have been cancelled on an almost daily basis in recent weeks.
Two commuters contacted The Courier separately to report issues.
Others have taken to social media to complain about cancellations affecting the 73 route.
Carol Louise Angus, 59, who pays £17 per week for a bus pass with Stagecoach, claims her bus has had several cancellations in the past fortnight.
73 bus cancellations ‘getting worse’
Carol, who lives in Monifieth and works at Forthill Primary School in Broughty Ferry, said: “They cancel it 10 minutes before it is due.
“They have got an app that we check, but at 10 past (the hour) it will be cancelled when it is supposed to be there at 20 past.
“One day the trains were also cancelled and there were no taxis.
“Luckily, a man at the bus stop called his wife and she drove me to Broughty Ferry for work.
“The 39 that goes the top road has been cancelled quite a lot as well.
“It is getting worse and people have had enough of it.
“I am lucky and have managed to get the train a lot instead, but that costs extra on top of my pass.
“Coming home from work, it is the same or it is late, so it is full of schoolkids and you have to stand.”
Another passenger, who uses the bus to get between her home in Forfar and her work at Ninewells, says she pays £95 per month for a Stagecoach pass.
But she claims she regularly has to fork out extra to use alternative services to and from Dundee city centre because the buses she uses – the 73 or the 39 – are cancelled.
She said: “I am having to get an earlier bus to get to work on time because the bus is being cancelled from the centre of town.
“If the bus is coming in late then I am late for work.
“I finish at 4.30pm and if there is a cancellation to the centre of town, I have to get another bus so it is sometimes 6.30pm before I get home to Forfar.”
Stagecoach blames weather and ‘technical or mechanical issues’ for 73 cancellations
In response to one post on X, complaining about the 73 being “cancelled lots” recently, Stagecoach said: “Unfortunately we are experiencing a few mechanical/technical issues on the 73/73A services.
“We are actively looking to resolve these issues as soon as we can so that our services can become more reliable.”
However, a spokesperson for Stagecoach said the issues were weather-related, including the impact of Storm Babet.
The spokesperson told The Courier: “We would like to apologise to our customers in Dundee and Angus for the service disruption they’ve experienced.
“In recent weeks, we have had to contend with some extremely disruptive weather conditions which have resulted in road closures and late-running services, and this has also impacted our vehicle availability.
“We’re working hard to provide the level of service our customers expect and have sourced additional vehicles to assist with this.
“Any customers wishing to enquire about tickets and passes they have purchased during the disruption should contact our customer service centre on 0345 241 8000 or via email at customer.services@stagecoachbus.com.”
It comes after Stagecoach had to withdraw evening services in a Dunfermline neighbourhood due to its buses being pelted with objects.
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