I have been in touch with the Acting Director of National Express Dundee regarding a number of West End bus issues, including :
* I have received complaints that the 2 service's replacement service (the 4/4A) no longer serves Perth Road (the 4S school service still serves Perth Road). I have received the following response :
"Services 2 and 4 have been the subject of many complaints from users since they were last changed. These complaints have, in the main, been about poor timekeeping and buses failing to turn up. There have also been complaints about overcrowding due to the size of bus used and the reduction to an hourly service.
The cause of the timekeeping issues has been that there has not been enough time allocated to the routes to allow them to adhere to the timetable properly. The decision to take the service out of Camperdown Leisure Park during the day means that we can use the time saved on this section to give more time between the City Centre and Dryburgh and this improve punctuality.
The decision to change the route away from the Perth Road has been made due to the constraints the library/triangle puts on vehicle size. We can only use small mini-buses on the 2 at the moment because larger buses 'ground' when they use the triangle. We need to be able to put larger buses on the new 4/4A to deal with the complaints we have been having about overcrowding and to do this we had to come away from using the triangle."
* I had asked him to look at the 22 service running from Ninewells Hospital in the West End Ward to Downfield. If a passenger gets on the bus at Ninewells, or, say, Blackness Road, the hefty £2 charge takes effect at the stage at Clepington Road. He has responded :
"I am unable to change the fare on the 22 between Downfield and Ninewells Hospital as requested. However, on service 26 the fare from Downfield to Ninewells is £1.60 and I hope that this will help residents in that area."
I have pointed out to him that, whilst I appreciate the point about the 26 service alternative, its timetable is far more limited than the 22 - there are no evening buses and no Sunday service.