Father slams 'mad' Midlothian school bus changes forcing son to walk along 'dangerous' 60mph road
The father-of-two said there have been two fatalities along the unlit and poorly-paved stretch of road
A concerned father has hit out at a council's “mad” school bus route changes that leave his teenage son making a “truly horrible walk” along a busy 60mph road.
Changes to Penicuik High School’s 600 bus mean that Kenny Loraine’s son Blake will now have to walk one mile along the A6094 every morning to reach the nearest stop in Howgate, Midlothian.
Since the changes were introduced at the start of this school year, the 14-year-old has to walk along the 60mph single carriageway which Mr Loraine explained has “no street lighting and an extremely degraded narrow pavement”.
He said: “That can’t happen, it's a horribly dangerous walk for anyone to do. Anybody walking that route is effectively going to end up soaking wet and freezing cold before they’ve even got on a bus to get to school.”
Mr Loraine worried that the journey will get riskier as the daylight hours shorten, particularly because the A6094 has “a history of being a dangerous road”.
“In the time we’ve been here there've been a dozen fatalities along the A6094 and there've been two fatalities at the point where the main road comes into Howgate. Obviously he’s 14 years-old, he’s not going to wear a high-vis jacket.”
His family have lived on the outskirts of Howgate for the last 21 years and he said bus transportation has always catered for students in the area, with a taxi arranged for his older son and other pupils when he was in primary school.
Midlothian Council’s new route starts at Nine Mile Burn before travelling for 40-minutes around Penicuik in what Mr Loraine called a “crazy loop” to the high school.
The dad-of-two said: “I spoke to the bus driver and he said he’s already voiced his opinion to the council’s travel team that he thought it was ridiculous.
“This whole change to the school bus service reeks of someone doing a desktop exercise with no real-world logic or common sense being applied.”
Yet, Mr Loraine said he has not got a “fair hearing” from the council’s travel team who “basically told me to lump it”. He has since escalated the matter to the government ombudsman but does not believe it will make much of a difference.
He added: “I’m angry for my son because he’s having to do this walk but I’m also getting angrier and angrier because of the completely dismissive attitude we’ve been getting from the travel team.
“I believe Midlothian Council’s travel team are failing in what should be their core responsibility to ensure the safety and welfare of pupils who they’re expected to get to and from school.”
A Midlothian Council spokesperson said in line with Scottish Government guidance it is the responsibility of parents and carers to get their children to the pick-up point, something Mr Loraine said was difficult because his wife does not drive and he is a carer for his 94-year-old father.
“We carefully considered the points raised regarding historical arrangements, family commitments, and the future housing development. However, these do not alter the council's responsibilities or the application of the current transport policy,” the spokesperson said.