TWO Ellon pensioners are campaigning for Stagecoach Bluebird to scrap its amended bus service which runs past their homes on Ness Circle.
Instead, the women, Patricia McDonald and Jane Urquhart are asking the bus company to reinstate the old service, which they insist was much more reliable.
The previous 254 bus was replaced last April with the 50 and 51 service. The women say the n
ew busses which ply the Ness circle area come from Aberdeen which leads to problems when a driver is ill or a bus breaks down. On occasion cancelled busses leaves them in freezing conditions and unable to keep vital appointments. The pensioners argue some of the busses are sometimes also "dirty and smelly."
Mrs McDonald (74), who is spearheading the campaign, has become so frustrated with the service that she spent a week in november tracking the service's reliability - a late bus can mean at best a missed doctor's appointment or even worse.
She found the number 51 at 9:30am was cancelled for three of those days and other were either late or very late.
"This is not a one off," Mrs Mcdonald said. "This happens regularly with these bus services - it's just not good enough. There's many days when we're forced to stand out in the freezing cold and we can't get an ambulance to take us to appointments. They say if you can walk to the bus stop, they won't send an ambulance.
Mrs Urquhart (70), who is disabled and walks with the aid of a stick, said she's at her wits end with what she describes as an "appalling" service from Stagecoach Bluebird. It's only now after a year of having "no joy" with the bus company or a local councillor, that the pensioners decided to speak to the media.
"You can't walk in for surgery late and say, sorry, there was no bus," Mrs Urquhart said. "Occasionally, we have missed appointments, but when you get to the hospital, they put you at the end of the queue then you've got all day to wait - all we seem to do is spend all day waiting for busses."
Councillor Rob Merson had been dealing with the pensioners frequent complaints, but they insist nothing has been done.
So far,Stagecoach Bluebird has only replied to one letter from Councillor Rob Merson, who has acted as a conduit between the pensioners and stagecoach.
However, George Devine, stagecoach Bluebird Operations Director wrote: "Although we have a very high maintenance standard, breakdowns do occur which are worse during the winter period and are unforseen.... I certainly hope there will be no further occurrences of this nature and that this experience will not deter your constituents from using our services in the future. I thank you for taking the time and trouble to bring this matter to your attention."
Cllr Merson said he is still waiting for a response from Stagecoach for two of Mrs McDonald's letters of complaint, but intends to set up a meeting with Stagecoach Managing Director, Bryone Chamberlain soon.
