Stagecoach delays that Friday feeling

Stagecoach has informed the school that the bus is not available, so from now on youngsters will have to wait half an hour for another service which will depart at 3pm.

In addition, Stagecoach warns that the new service is dependent on efficient boarding to ensure there is no delay in the bus following its scheduled route.

For the rest of the week, Monday to Thursday, the bus is available to catch at 5pm, but Friday is the school’s early finish.

Principal Mike Conn told parents this week: “I am very disappointed that Stagecoach has made this decision and with such short notice.

“However, it is a commercial service and therefore not something I can influence except by requesting a change of mind. It might also help if you, as customers, contacted the company directly to express your views.

“Students waiting for the bus may wait in the heart space and refreshments will continue to be available until the bus leaves.”

Helen Martin, spokesperson for Stagecoach, commented: “The buses that serve Mount Idol View are part of the standard 98 timetable and only have normal loading time at the bus stop.

“There isn’t a route 98 bus scheduled for 2.30pm at the school. On schooldays, we start a bus at the school specifically to meet the usual school finish time of 5pm and allow time for loading.

“The school changed its finish time on Fridays and we understood this to be 2pm, which we said we were able to accommodate.

“However, the bus was being delayed until 2.30pm at the school and was then late for the rest of its schedule.

“When it came to their attention, the depot staff started using a spare bus to run a duplicate journey to avoid delaying the original bus.

“Using this spare bus has caused us significant problems, as its purpose is to allow our engineering team to carry out routine maintenance across the fleet and to cover for emergency situations.

“Therefore, we have had to tell the depot staff that they cannot routinely provide a duplicate for the school.”