'Not a great back to school start' - East Lothian parents slam bus company for 'shambolic' school run

‘It’s a huge failure on the bus company’s part, and quite frankly, not acceptable because it causes undue stress and upset, not to mention puts children in danger.’

Parents have described the first day back at school as “a shambles” after a lack of buses left dozens of children stranded on the side of a main road.

Schools in East Lothian welcomed back all pupils from Monday after a phased return last week, including North Berwick High School.

But some parents said they are “livid” after East Coast, which supplied two buses for the morning school run to-and-from North Berwick, failed to get children to school on time for their first official week.

Jane and Georgie top left, Clare and East Coast buses

"It really has been a shambles, not a great back to school start,” said Jane Miller, mother of 12-year-old Georgie who started S1 at North Berwick High School on Monday.

"My daughter was left stranded in Gullane, along with many others, because there was no space for them on the buses provided, and I am livid.”

Jane said she was shocked at the level of organisation on the first day all pupils across the region were due to return.

"My daughter saw children standing in the aisles and sitting on the steps in the school buses that went past her,” Jane added.

"The fact she was denied entry because they were too full, twice, is shocking.

"It’s a huge failure on the bus company’s part, and quite frankly, not acceptable because it causes undue stress and upset, not to mention puts children in danger.

"Either parents had to pick other people’s children up and drive groups of them to North Berwick, or they were all spectacularly late after having to catch a later public bus.

"I would have thought it would have been something the school bus provider would have thought about before all pupils returned.”

Late for school

Mother Amanda Thompson said she was horrified to hear her daughter, who left home early on Monday to make sure she could get a seat, was unable to get on either of the school buses that morning.

The pupil had to instead take a public bus, which stops more frequently than designated school transport, causing her to be late on her first day.

"I got a phone call from Kayliegh saying a group of them were not allowed on the two school buses and on one of the buses kids were standing because it was so full,” Amanda said.

"She then text me 40 minutes later to say she made it on a public bus and was going to be late for school.

"Not a great start for a nervous S1. I worry about the standing waiting for buses and also that children are being allowed to stand on the bus or sit on stairs. This is not safe.”

One parent, Clare Cavers, whose three children attend North Berwick High School, said the lack of capacity on school transport in East Lothian is nothing new.

She said the area has been crying out for more school transport, especially since the school timetable changed in the area with some schools starting and finishing their days earlier.

"It’s something that has been happening for a while, and the coronavirus situation has only exasperated it,” she said.

“My children used to take the public bus because it used to get them to school earlier, but now the school times have changed, it gets them there too late.

"But then Monday morning showed it’s a bit of a gamble with the designated school transport because the buses were too full for some children.

"It’s important to remember some people don’t have access to a car, I don’t always, which makes it very difficult when school transport isn’t running efficiently.

"Having another bus service would be a good move.”

Longstanding issue

Clare said while the council has been responsive and supplied an extra bus service for pupils as of Monday afternoon, the capacity issue has been longstanding in the community.

"We appreciate the free transport,” she added, “but if you are providing the free transport, then you need to make sure you are getting everyone there and on time.

"I have spoken to the school and they don’t penalise children for being late because there are known issues with school transport.

"The coronavirus has only made it worse because services were running less in lockdown and obviously social distancing has to be adhered to on public transport.”

An East Lothian Council spokeswoman said: “We’re aware of the issues transporting some pupils from Gullane to North Berwick High School on Monday morning and have raised this with East Coast Buses.

"The company is putting in place additional measures to prevent this from happening again and we will be monitoring how effective these are and taking action as required. We have worked closely with all of our transport providers and Transport Scotland to safely increase capacity across all of our contracts.

"This has cost an additional £1.7m across our entire home to school transport network.

“It is early days in our return to school and we are working closely with all our providers to ensure that any issues are resolved quickly to provide confidence around home to school transport.”

She pointed out the 127 bus has been diverted due to roadworks in West Fenton which means it does not serve Gullane at the moment.

The works are to be completed shortly and the service should resume offering more capacity for passengers travelling to North Berwick, including school children.

When this happens, the extra bus provided by the council on Monday afternoon will be withdrawn.

A spokeswoman for East Coast Buses said: “Across the last four months, East Coast Buses have been operating a reduced network due to the impact of coronavirus on customer numbers. With schools reopening, we have worked closely with East Lothian Council to add extra capacity to our network for children travelling to and from school.

"The introduction of these extra services will be continually reviewed and changes introduced if and where required in order to meet customer demand wherever possible.

“We are not aware of any journeys which failed to operate on Monday and would ask customers to contact us directly with any concerns.”

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