Indeed the service to Aberdeen to a from Ellon can only be described as first class and very, very regular at times of the day, leading me to believe that the road out of the town may in fact be the redeeming feature of the town.

Sadly, my faith in the bus services were dealt a shattering blow last week, though I'm not as innocent to believe that all was perfect.

In particular it concerns me greatly that if Stagecoach are making as much money as would appear to be the case, why do they continue to persist in using old rolling stock, which is well past its sell-by-date?
Two or three of the double deckers used on the Aberdeen route are in fact a health hazard, emitting fumes both inside and outside the bus making them a hazard to the general public.

One such bus on which I was passenger broke down in King Street, Aberdeen, leaving a substantial number of passengers stranded at peak time.

The condition of the bus was appalling, resulting in a number of confused passengers, wondering whether to stay on the broken down vehicle, as the driver was totally inept when it came to customer care.



No apology or indication of what to do next was forthcoming from him, leading to most of us getting off and waiting for the next bus, which in my case was equally smelly and unfit to carry passengers.

Interestingly, the long-suffering passengers seemed to accept the situation, apart for one or two who asked me to write of the experience.

I just wonder how often this happens, though in fairness it was my first bad trip with the service, but not my first journey on a bus which was totally unfit to transport members of the public.

Stagecoach has, in my opinion, a moral obligation to its customers to put its house in order and remove the offending vehicles from the road, particularly as they seem to get pressed into service at peak times.

Having a captive audience only makes it worse, especially as the same company can justifiably claim to be one of the giants of the transport business.

On the matter of drivers I should point out that the majority of them are polite, thoughtful and a joy to travel with, though the exceptions are quite unpleasant, but a rare species I'm pleased to say.

Finally I shall continue to use the local buses, but will try and avoid travelling on these unacceptable double deckers, which are the bane of the Ellon commuters' lives.

Come on Stagecoach, you can do better, particularly as you are so keen to take our money.