Embarrassing bus schedule

[Iain]

Glasgow Airport last bus at 11pm means it's 'easier' to get home from Edinburgh Airport

https://www-glasgowlive-co-uk.cdn.amppr ... ts-section

This is used as a puff piece to let a politician push their political views - but is the airport bus not an arrangement between the airport and the bus company rather than anything to do with the council?

Either way it's utterly embarrassing and shambolic imo and a illustration of why so many pax are disappearing to EDI. 2 mins on GLA arrivals shows the suggestion that it's not required later to be utter nonsense.

Another chapter in GLAs abysmal public transport links. We've talked at length about the lack of a bus to Edinburgh but also local buses are lacking. I was just looking at LPL and they appear to have 7 or 8 local bus routes calling at the airport despite the fact they've got millions of pax less than GLA! And given the lack of action GLA don't seem to see it as a problem.

[atuk]

Glasgow Airport last bus at 11pm means it's 'easier' to get home from Edinburgh Airport

https://www-glasgowlive-co-uk.cdn.amppr ... ts-section

This is used as a puff piece to let a politician push their political views - but is the airport bus not an arrangement between the airport and the bus company rather than anything to do with the council?

Either way it's utterly embarrassing and shambolic imo and a illustration of why so many pax are disappearing to EDI. 2 mins on GLA arrivals shows the suggestion that it's not required later to be utter nonsense.

Another chapter in GLAs abysmal public transport links. We've talked at length about the lack of a bus to Edinburgh but also local buses are lacking. I was just looking at LPL and they appear to have 7 or 8 local bus routes calling at the airport despite the fact they've got millions of pax less than GLA! And given the lack of action GLA don't seem to see it as a problem.

I fully agree with your comments. I don’t know how much the airport contributes or how much influence they have but given green credentials it makes perfect sense to enhance public transport and expand both destinations served and frequency.

That said the bus industry post Covid is in a mess. Everything has shrunk to ensure main corridors are protected at the expense of price, frequency and driver shortage. Add in further price increases Resulting from higher costs - fuel and wages- and slim margins become even slimmer. That’s why Stagecoach a major provider, if not the largest provider in Scotland, is subject to a takeover bid!

Surely the obvious clue is to work together, identify where demand and improvements lie and start matching accordingly ensuring relevant publicity to keep folks informed and attract improved loadings.

[PiperOne]

Looks like normal service may resume shortly, as the 4 vehicles which First had redeployed from Airport duties to the X3 have returned to the 500 pool and repainted back into Airport Express livery.

[bill]

Never even knew we still had a schedule with the buses 'cos they sure as feck don't run to them. Thought we'd just gone as the trains had. Something here and there? Public transport in general in this country is a p*ss take. It is awful, dangerous, unreliable,over priced and filthy. That makes me better knowing that our £2,500 p.a goes straight down the sh*tter.

[atuk]

Well here is one who used the bus to work yesterday for an extra overtime shift. I was able to use my concession card so it cost me nought and saved a considerable sum on petrol and mileage on the car.

Which service was this? McGills to EDI from DND! A local company to GLA ( with Inchinnan depot it was my optical bus company too when I lived there ) and as the frequency is now every 90 minutes it’s viable plus can have a wee snooze on the way home.

When Thomas Cook were around their City Square Dundee branch was top in Scotland and one of the top five in the UK providing many a departing GLA passenger! Perhaps GLA should look at offering a direct non stop DND-GLA service!unless that business has headed east now too?

[PiperOne]

Had a chat with one of the regular 500 drivers today, and asked him if the full service was being resumed. He advised that he was not aware of any date for 24hr restart, presumably the rosters would be issued in advance for night shifts so that the drivers would be aware.

[GeorgeNTravels]

I raised this issue in a post on my website about the woeful links between the airport and Paisley Gilmour Street station, I have included the section I wrote below;

"However, now onto the bad part. When I exited the airport I had 55 minutes until my train, however the next bus to Paisley was not for 45 minutes. If I waited for it I would miss the train.

Furthermore, there were no taxi’s and already there was a queue waiting for them, I decided not to wait.

Therefore, I decided to walk from the airport to Paisley Gilmour Street station, this takes me around 30 minutes, however, I was doing it in the dark and I would not recommend it for most people.

It concerns me how poor public transport is to the airport from surrounding areas, and I hope somebody in the airport reads this and reaches out to help address the issue."


GLA responded to this on Twitter with the following reply, which I wish was made up;

"Hi George, thank you for your feedback. You can find out more about all of the travel options to and from Glasgow Airport here: https://glasgowairport.com/to-and-from/ Thanks, FP."

It seems to me that the airport is not capable of listening to feedback from customers and fixing an issue that is clearly visible. Given the recent issues surrounding safety of women at night, it is unbelievable to me that the airport just seems to accept this as ok. I did not raise the issues with the 500 bus as it was not relevant to the post I made but it seems to me that I would have got the same reply anyways.

[PiperOne]

Looks a bit like a stock response to travel queries rather than addressing the specific issues with the links at certain times of the day, and particularly evenings and Sundays. Not even an acknowledgement of concerns raised.

[GeorgeNTravels]

Looks a bit like a stock response to travel queries rather than addressing the specific issues with the links at certain times of the day, and particularly evenings and Sundays. Not even an acknowledgement of concerns raised.

I agree, evenings are particularly awful. That's twice I have flown into GLA this month after 7pm and had to walk to make my train as nobody in my family drives (even if they did I would not make them drive from Inverclyde to come get me).

[GeorgeNTravels]

I raised this issue in a post on my website about the woeful links between the airport and Paisley Gilmour Street station, I have included the section I wrote below;

"However, now onto the bad part. When I exited the airport I had 55 minutes until my train, however the next bus to Paisley was not for 45 minutes. If I waited for it I would miss the train.

Furthermore, there were no taxi’s and already there was a queue waiting for them, I decided not to wait.

Therefore, I decided to walk from the airport to Paisley Gilmour Street station, this takes me around 30 minutes, however, I was doing it in the dark and I would not recommend it for most people.

It concerns me how poor public transport is to the airport from surrounding areas, and I hope somebody in the airport reads this and reaches out to help address the issue."


GLA responded to this on Twitter with the following reply, which I wish was made up;

"Hi George, thank you for your feedback. You can find out more about all of the travel options to and from Glasgow Airport here: https://glasgowairport.com/to-and-from/ Thanks, FP."

It seems to me that the airport is not capable of listening to feedback from customers and fixing an issue that is clearly visible. Given the recent issues surrounding safety of women at night, it is unbelievable to me that the airport just seems to accept this as ok. I did not raise the issues with the 500 bus as it was not relevant to the post I made but it seems to me that I would have got the same reply anyways.

So they replied to my email which I will include below, however, they did not delete the internal email they sent between departments before replying to me, thankfully it was nothing bad,

Hi George,

Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback & I am sorry to hear about your experience.

Unfortunately, in the evening there is a larger gap in the bus timetable, so the buses are less frequent. Please know that Glasgow Airport is working hard with our partners to improve our transport options; however, the bus timetable is ultimately the decision of McGill's.

Unfortunately, due to a shortage of drivers, it is taking longer than we would like for drivers to get back to service the rank. Since the pandemic began, aligning with an industry-wide trend, many taxi drivers have since left the industry for other professions, or retired. We are working with our taxi operators to ensure there is a good availability of drivers throughout the day, especially later at night where public transport is limited.

We do our best to keep drivers and passengers informed about the queue and we have additional signage at the rank to inform passengers about the road closures and provide alternative local hire taxi companies for passengers to use if they wish.

We have an onward travel board at domestic arrivals with bus times and stances and each stance also has a copy of the timetable, and our friendly ambassadors are on hand to provide information on onward travel options.

Again, I am sorry to hear about your experience. I realise this reply does little to rectify the position you were in the other night, but I hope it provides some insight into the current climate and the challenges we face.


Best,
Lee

They also included a picture at the bottom saying they were Scottish airport of the year 2019 and 2020, all I want to know is how much they paid for it.