A bus passenger using a wheelchair had to stay overnight in Inverness after Stagecoach couldn’t get him to Nairn.
In recent months, the firm has been forced to arrange taxis for customers affected by journeys being cancelled including the Service 10 Aberdeen to Inverness.
The bus operator’s shortage of drivers has caused bus timetable chaos across the North of Scotland.
Why did a man have to stay in the Highland Capital?
Recently a man in a powered wheelchair tried to share a taxi with a fellow passenger back to Nairn.
It came after the final bus hadn’t turned up.
However, the vehicle wasn’t suitable for him. So he was forced to stay a night in a hotel in the Highland capital.
Meanwhile, his fellow passenger who lives in the village of Auldearn near Nairn has raised concerns about the amounts of services being cancelled.
She wrote on social media: “Ok, I never do this kind of thing but quite honestly Stagecoach no 10 has reached the pits.
“I live in Auldearn with no car and the amount of cancellations in the past few months especially since the M96 started has become unsustainable.
“People cannot get to work or appointments in time.
“People going in either direction cannot know if there is going to be a bus.
Taxi or staying in Inverness
She added: “I recently had to choose between staying the night in Inverness or getting a taxi home from Inverness £60 when the last bus did not appear.
“I tried to share a taxi back to Nairn with a man in a powered wheelchair but no taxi could take us.
“He had no choice but to stay the night in a hotel.
“The amount of cancellations or no-shows is high on a daily basis.
“Now and then there is an announcement on the app that a bus is cancelled.
“More often than not however, they just don’t turn up.”
‘Taking steps to ensure such incident do not occur in the future’
Stagecoach North Scotland Managing Director David Beaton said: “We are aware of the incident raised regarding the cancellation of some journeys on service 10 and on this occasion at short notice due to driver sickness.
“The depot made efforts to arrange taxis for the affected passengers but this was not suitable and we are taking steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
“In addition to this, we are actively addressing these concerns by implementing network changes on August 21st to reduce our driver requirement and continuing with extensive recruitment activities to increase our driver workforce.
“I’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by recent disruption and appreciate customer understanding as we work towards resolving these issues and providing a better service experience.”
Conversation