Over 1800 people sign petition against West Lothian bus cuts

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Fed up bus passengers have launched a fight back against McGill’s Buses’ decision to quit West Lothian.Furious customers are demanding the Scottish Government steps in to resolve the problem, before hundreds of people end up stranded or isolated.Campaigners have launched a petition that has been signed by more than 1800 people so far, with that number rising every day.A dedicated Facebook page has also been launched with hundreds of angry passengers commenting each day about how the already depleted services are impacting their lives.Some of those affected by the cuts gathered to tell the Courier about how it will impact their lives – but many more couldn’t meet us because their buses didn’t turn up!Diane Scotland is one of the people behind the campaign.She has been a regular at local council meetings where she has spoken out about the lack of buses and the “devastating effects” of McGill’s withdrawing services from December.She said: “It will hit the workforce here badly, which will of course affect the local economy, NHS, social and education services and much more.“I have heard the lack of buses has even affected McGill’s drivers, with a claim that one bus driver was late into work as his bus didn’t turn up – oh the irony!“I’ve been emailing our MSPs etc and Scottish Government.

Yes, the people here need a proper, functioning bus service, however McGill’s shot themselves in the foot back in May when they cut the services the way they did.“People are angry and sadly the poor bus drivers see that anger and feel that anger from the passengers.“Many of them have emailed McGill’s and received generic unhelpful responses ie, shortage of bus drivers, but who is at fault here?