Bus giants Stagecoach have been urged to do a U-turn on a fares hike in Dumfries and Galloway.
Stagecoach blamed rising costs and a reduction in subsidies for increasing journey costs by a whopping 15 per cent at the weekend.
Mark Ruskell MSP, the Scottish Greens’ transport spokesman, has written to company officials calling on them to reverse their decision.
And Dumfries and Galloway Greens spokeswoman, Laura Moodie, said: “A fare increase of 15 per cent for people in Dumfries and Galloway is just not acceptable.
“Whilst we can appreciate the challenges faced by Stagecoach and other bus operators, it cannot be right for private companies to buffer their profits with increased passenger fares.
“Right now, we need to be doing all we can to encourage folks back onto bus – and hiking fares is not the way to do it.
Communities across Scotland deserve better buses.
“We need wholesale reform of the way buses are run, from fare regulation to increased municipalisation, to prevent situations like this from happening again.”
She added: “We must find a better approach that doesn’t leave passengers in Dumfries and Galloway out of pocket.”
According to the Greens, Stagecoach operated at a profit of £72.7m in the last financial year and paid nine directors more than £3m, excluding shares, for 2022.
The previous year it is claimed that the nine directors received £1.9m in 2021.
But Fiona Doherty, managing director, Stagecoach West Scotland said: “Businesses across the UK economy, including in the transport sector, have been facing significantly increased costs which have put pressure on fares.
“Since 2019-20, Stagecoach has seen a 29 per cent increase in maintenance costs. Over the same period, utility costs have shot up by more than 40 per cent, including an increase of 16 per cent in the last year alone.
“Stagecoach has also agreed to significant pay increases for its employees nationwide, reflecting the cost-of-living challenges consumers face.”
She pointed out that emergency funding provided by the Scottish Government to ensure a level of bus service for people to access local amenities, which would not otherwise have been commercially sustainable, has been reduced over the past 12 months and from, Friday, March 31, was withdrawn altogether.
As a result, she added, “our fares must reflect this from Sunday” (April 2) to prioritise investment “in our customers, our people, and our fleet”.
Stagecoach has introduced 47 new electric buses across Scotland in the past year with a further 109 e-buses and the first all-electric city bus networks in Inverness and Perth in 2023.”
She stressed: “Bus remains one of the cheapest, most convenient, and most sustainable ways of travelling and while we understand that no fare increase is welcome, Stagecoach has consistently delivered some of the lowest ticket prices in the country. We’re confident that travellers will continue to make savings with our range of available flexible tickets.
