Stagecoach boss to hold meeting over beleaguered Perthshire bus service

Councillor Angus Forbes will meet with the company's operations manager to discuss issues with the 39 service in the Carse of Gowrie.

By Sean O'Neil

July 30 2024, 5:59am

Stagecoach has scrapped its number 16 service from Perth to Dundee. Image: DC Thomson

Stagecoach bosses have agreed to meet with a Perthshire councillor to address ongoing issues with a beleaguered bus service in the Carse of Gowrie.

Councillor Angus Forbes will meet with the bus company’s north east operations manager, David Frenz, on Wednesday to discuss the 39 bus route.

The running of the service, which was introduced in May to replace the axed 16 and X7 routes, has been met with widespread criticism due to cancellations and delays.

Carse of Gowrie Conservative councillor Angus Forbes. Image: Angus Forbes.

Conservative councillor for the area, Mr Forbes, has been compiling a list of complaints for over a month regarding the service.

He told The Courier: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet them and happy to work with them to relay the experiences my constituents are facing.

“This is not a complaint about the changes in service, this is about the unreliability of the service that’s there.

“When you keep getting the same complaints then there’s something behind them.”

‘Service should begin in Dundee’

One suggestion Mr Forbes will be making is a change to the route of the 39 which currently starts in Arbroath and runs the whole way through to Perth.

He wants to see the service begin in Dundee so it wouldn’t be affected by roadworks in Angus.

David Frenz, Stagecoach East Scotland's Operations Director has advised of bus services affected by the UCI Cycling World Championships. — David Frenz, Stagecoach East Scotland. Image: Stagecoach East Scotland

He will also ask Stagecoach to ensure the real-time information boards displayed at bus stops and on the information given through the app are accurate, with concerns that these often don’t match up.

Concerns over Stagecoach’s running of services have been mounting since they first threatened to axe a swathe of routes in Perthshire earlier this month.

Raft of changes in Perthshire and Fife

A campaign led by The Courier, residents and politicians pushed back on the worst of those cuts but the new reduced service has failed to meet expectation.

The bus company is also introducing a raft of cuts in Fife, removing the Glenrothes to Perth route in the process.

As highlighted last week by The Courier, these wide-ranging changes are being made while Scotland doesn’t have a dedicated transport watchdog.

The Traffic Commissioner for Scotland role has been vacant since May with the UK Government yet to appoint someone to the £113,862 a year position.

Stagecoach has been approached for comment.