Residents from a West Lothian village say they’ve been ‘forgotten about’ as they find themselves at risk of being ‘cut off’ from the rest of the community.
Bus operator McGill’s announced they were slashing their services around West Lothian due to a bus driver shorter and financial challenges that the industry as a whole facing.
West Lothian residents were outraged by the revised timetable that is set to come into place on May 8. Residents who rely on buses in Blackridge and Greenrigg were facing complete isolation after a re-route of the X25 and X22.
Locals have hit out at the current ‘unreliable’ service with short notice cancellations can see services cancelled for a full day in some areas. A protest took place on April 25 at the Civic Centre, Livingston, over the cuts where McGill’s admitted they were ‘not proud’ of the current standard but justified their revised timetable that sees a reduction of early morning/late evenings and removal of Sunday services in the whole area due to lack of customers.
Following the protest, West Lothian councillors agreed to two subsidised bus service to offer a ‘lifeline’ to Blackridge and Greenrigg which would run from Monday - Friday, 7am - 7pm.
Officers are hopeful that consent will be granted.
Speaking to EdinburghLive, Karen Lambie 53, was worried for her community and herself with the prospect of the buses being axed. She said: “The buses aren’t great, we never know if they’re coming but to cut them off all together is ridiculous. The amount of elderly that get that bus in the mornings to go to Armadale for their groceries - and it might not be there. They would be cutting the village off!
The unreliable bus service has proved to be an issue for Karen and her neighbours in Blackridge. Karen works as a support worker and cares for her father who lives in Armadale and sadly suffered a stroke. She said: “If my hubby can’t run me in the car, then I have to get the bus. But if the bus doesn’t show...then I feel like I let my dad down. I know it’s not my fault, but then that’s a whole day I can’t help him. He had a stroke so can’t use his right arm and needs help doing stuff round the house.”
Karen continued: “There’s nothing here, we have a wee shop which is fine for bits and bobs but they don’t have everything. We go up to Harthill where’s there’s a Co-Op but most of us go to Armadale, they have the Asda and things. The elderly go to clubs in Armadale too, so without a bus, what are they meant to do?”
The subsidised bus service will extend the 21 to provide a connection between Blackridge and Bathgate via Armadale. However the bus won’t run on Sunday. It will run Monday - Friday 7am - 7pm.
The mum said: “What about people coming home from a night shift? When I finish work at 10pm and I can’t get a lift how am I meant to get home? I’m lucky my husband is usually home, but it’s still that worry. And what about people who work on Sunday? What happens to all the people who work on a Sunday, it’s near enough £30 in a taxi from here to Livingston. Some people don’t have that, especially nowadays. McGill’s just don’t care about us.”
She added: “Yes there’s the train but that’s a good 25 minute walk. Not everyone can walk that, especially with shopping or if they’re elderly.”
Mary Roberson, 78, teared up when she spoke about the unreliable service. She said: “It’s terrible. I was waiting for an hour and a half yesterday for a bus.
“I went out for a night out the other weekend, you know for the old aged pensioners in the centre. Got dressed up, nice trousers, did my hair, makeup, hat and scarf on though, and went down to the bus stop. My family were back home in Aberdeen so I had to get the bus, otherwise they could have taken me.
“But there was nothing. There was meant to be two. I was stood there waiting. I eventually came home, washed the makeup off and got into my jammies. Honestly I could have cried.
“I moved down here [from Aberdeen] because my family were here and there was no buses where I lived. Why should I have to pay for a taxi when we’re on the bus route. And I hate staying in! I’m always out and about, I go walking with my friends every day.”
With tears in her eyes, Mary said: “But without the buses...I’d be completely cut off. I sometimes think I’m better off moving back up to Aberdeen.
“If it weren’t for my friends, I’d move.”
Samantha Gray, 51, relies on the bus to get her to her community community groups. Speaking on Tuesday, she said: “My experience with the buses are diabolical. It’s my only mode of transport, I use the bus almost daily for craft groups and shopping and things. I’m disabled so I use a concession pass, I check the short driver notice constantly but even then it’s not accurate.
“I spend half my days just waiting on buses. Even when the tracker says it’s due it sometime just vanishes.”
She added: “If the council brings in a subsided service for Blackridge, it would be good, even if it doesn’t run a Sunday it would be better than nothing but I think many business, especially small businesses will suffer when they stop all the Sunday services, as they will have low staff and poor footfall.”
Another Blackridge resident Janice, 71, “I have hospital appointments, I get injections in my eyes so I need to get to St John’s. Without the buses...I wouldn’t know what I’d do. It’s terrible, we’d be better off going back to the horse and carts.”
“The bus service is atrocious!” Lesley Mitchell, 75, travels from Armadale to Blackridge for the GP. She told Edinburgh Live, “You can’t rely on it at all. I go to the doctor’s here and several times I had to call in and reschedule or cancel the appointment because the bus simply hasn’t turned up and there is no notification at all. Actually as soon as I get home today, I’m going to see if I can change surgeries - if they’ll have me because I just can’t keep doing this and it’s about £12 for a taxi. Both me and my husband are pensioners so that’s a lot of money, especially in times like this.”
Care home worker, Heather Patterson, 56, relies on the bus to get to work. She said: “I work in a care home, do 12 hour shifts and also work Saturday and Sundays. If I can’t get to work by bus, it will cost me £24 a day on taxis which I can’t afford. My husband also depends on the bus to get to work.
“This is going to have a huge effect on employees if we can’t get out our village to go to appointments, and shops. I feel so sorry for everyone in our village.”
Ralph Roberts, CEO at McGill’s Group, said: “We fully recognise the extent of service changes being made and where possible, McGill’s has worked hard to try and adjust other Eastern Scottish services to cover gaps but there is the obvious exception of Sunday services.
“On most services, the number of journeys being made is 75 percent of pre-pandemic levels. But, given the increased operating costs, this means we need to make some changes to routes and timetables - both to reflect current demand, and to ensure the future viability of our networks across West Lothian and Edinburgh. We will continue to engage with local bus user representatives ahead of the changes being introduced to ensure that all changes are fully communicated.
“As the new timetables come into effect, the big benefit will be to improve service reliability. Since we took over the region seven months ago, we recognise the problems that have existed, particularly with driver shortages, which have affected services running according to schedule and we are committed to delivering a network of services that the public can rely on.”
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