Sir,
I read with interest Rachel Brewer’s letter ‘Stagecoach complaints’ in the Banner on October 7. Having also been denied access to a virtually empty bus I could understand her bewilderment.
I had walked along the higher level coastal path from Kildonan to Whiting Bay on August 31st and anticipated travelling back on the 15:37 bus. The timetable on the bus stop at Ashdale Bridge stated that this 323 service was coded ‘XSch’: ‘X’ meant it terminated at Kildonan and ‘Sch’ that it operated on schooldays only. It was a school day and I only wanted to go as far as Kildonan so all seemed fine. However, when the bus arrived the driver told me I could not board as it was a designated school bus and that he had no facility for taking payment. As the next timetabled bus was also coded ‘Sch’ I had to assume that it, too, would be unavailable for fare-paying passengers.