McGill's 540 service: Firm urged to reverse decision to axe bus

Scores of people turned out to a recent meeting organised by Gourock Community Council, which opposed the firm’s withdrawal of the 540 service.

The service, which was withdrawn on May 1 as part of a major timetable shake-up, ran from Clynder Road in Greenock's east end down to Gourock railway station.

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The demonstration outside Gourock railway station, where the 540 stopped, came after a petition launched by the community council calling for the route to be kept attracted hundreds of signatures.

Gourock councillor Lynne Quinn and her fellow ward five representative Martin McCluskey were among those present at the protest and told how they had met with officials from McGill’s and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) to discuss how the route could be saved.

Councillor Quinn said: “This is going to be devastating for a lot of people.

“There have been a couple of services that were going to be withdrawn and SPT have stepped in.

“When we had meetings with them we talked about the criteria for stepping in.

“For us it’s not just about numbers on that bus, it’s about the type of journeys that people are making. They are going to the hospital, the health centre or connecting upper Gourock to the town and getting people out.

“A big thing just now is about using the bus instead of cars and both older and younger people have got free travel, but what’s the point if there’s no bus on for the journeys you need to make?

“With the amount of stories we’re hearing about what this service means to people, there’s obviously a case there for SPT to look at it because it’s vital for our community.”

Councillor McCluskey echoed councillor Quinn’s concerns and urged bus bosses to do a u-turn.

He added: “The message today is to McGill’s, who could still change their position about the withdrawal of the service.

“Obviously we want the 540 to continue, but the point we’ve made to both McGill’s and SPT is that it doesn’t need to be the exact same service, I think people would be willing to meet in the middle.

“I think the whole way that the bus consultation process is set up doesn’t allow for any consultation, it’s just a fact that the process that’s in place at the moment when an operator wants to withdraw a service is not a consultation, they just inform.

“This is beyond just the 540 and to me calls into question how our bus service is run, certainly around public consultation.

“I would argue that the whole way our bus network is run needs to be looked at again.”

Gourock community council chair Hamish MacLeod says withdrawal of the service would leave some parts of the town cut off from the rest.

He added: “They need to have second thoughts about axing this bus, they could keep it on even for another couple of months and explain to people if they don’t use the service they’ll lose it.”

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Ralph Roberts, CEO of McGill's Group, said: “We fully recognise the extent of service changes and where possible, McGill’s has worked hard to try and adjust other services to cover some or all of the withdrawn service routes, as is the case with the 540 service.

"We are, however, disappointed by suggestions that McGill's did not adequately consult on this decision.

"There is a clearly defined process by which McGill's had to notify both Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and Inverclyde Council of the proposal to alter local services.

“We notified the council and SPT nine weeks ago of this decision and we would ask why councillors McCluskey and Quinn are apportioning blame to McGill's on this matter.

"We have met with councillors McCluskey and Quinn but at no stage have they offered a way to financially underpin this loss-making route nor has there been any willingness to make progress on issues economically hampering buses such as the lack of prioritisation lanes or the proliferation of parked cars making it difficult for our vehicles to move through local streets.

"Regrettably, there is also an irony that the gathering took place at Gourock train station, with rail services in Scotland receiving around £1.4billion in government funding to deliver 16 percent of the public transport journeys.

“Across the same period, bus operators across Scotland share around £50m of core funding whilst delivering 79 percent of public transport journeys.

“Perhaps a fairer distribution of support would be of help to bus users."