STAGECOACH passengers face longer journeys and waits between buses and being turned away after changes were made to North Ayrshire timetables.

Until Sunday, June 4, the X34 and X36 services ran consecutively every half hour, connecting North Ayrshire with Glasgow. But the services have been cut back to one an hour and the 125 Beith-Irvine route has been removed and replaced by the hourly 25.

David Park from Dalry said that his wife’s commute to Ayrshire Central Hospital is now five times longer than before. He told the Herald: “It went directly from Beith to Dalry to Irvine. It’s a journey that should take about 12 minutes. Now it’s over an hour and a half which is ridiculous for people going to and from work.

“We’ve only got one car like a lot of people. I’m not happy about it at all.

“I heard there was 12 people turned away in Glasgow because the bus was too full so they had to stand and wait another hour. That’s not on.

“I have spoken to my councillor, Robert Barr, who, in turn, got Councillor Donald Reid, who sits on the SPT Group. He will be writing to Stagecoach in Ayr.”

The Herald was also contacted by a pensioner from Stevenston and a woman from Beith, both of whom who wished to remain anonymous.

The man from Stevenston said: “I’ve discovered that there is a bus at 8.50am and there is not another one till 11.20am. That’s two-and-a-half hours between.

“It was great up until that Sunday [when the timetable changed]. Before Sunday it took an hour, now it adds 10-15 minutes. I’m sure I’m not the only one affected.”

The other bus user added: “The three o’clock bus arrived at Braehead and 16 people couldn’t get on because it was full. They then had to wait another hour for the next one.

“Earlier on in the week, people in Beith also couldn’t get on the bus and it was running 20 minutes late. It’s shocking.”

Councillor Donald Reid said that he had received lots of concerns from constituents.

He said: “Folk are saying they’ve put on single deckers now instead of double deckers, reduced the service from an hour to two hours, and that buses not able to provide the required capacity.

“I have contacted Stagecoach down at Ayr for feedback to ask what’s happening and to try and explain about the capacity.”

The Herald understands that the contract for the 125 service was to be renewed in July and was awarded to Shuttle Buses by SPT.

In an email correspondence between David in Dalry and SPT, a spokesman said that since then Stagecoach Western “took the decision to implement a number of commercial network changes” including the operation of an hourly daytime service between Kilbirnie and Beith and the cancellation of the 28B, thereby removing evening journeys between Irvine town centre and Broomlands.

But in a reply to David from Shuttle Buses, managing director David Granger confirmed that SPT had since cancelled the contract and put out a new tender.

When the Herald contacted SPT about the timetable changes, we were told that it was in the hands of Stagecoach.

A spokeswoman for Stagecoach West Scotland said: “Following a full review of demand for our services and a public consultation in April, a new timetable was published in June. The new service continues to offer the same number of journeys per hour during peak hours, before 9am and one frequency change to the evening peak service. The changes to the timetable during off-peak are designed to ensure we can continue to offer the widest bus network possible for as many people as possible with the finite resources available, in a way that best reflects passenger demand.

“The changes will bring an improved service to some passengers, offering a direct service to Braehead Shopping Centre however, we appreciate that these services will also mean that parts of our network will not have the same service levels they previously did.

“Unfortunately, no change is not an option. The reality is that we are faced with a situation where factors outside our control mean there are less passenger journeys and less money to pay the costs of running these bus services. Like many households, we have been forced to respond to the difficult economic conditions.

“The views of local people are very important to us. That is why we will continue to consult with passengers, local authorities and businesses before making any changes.”