I'm not sure about the services that terminate in Fort William, but yes it's usually the early morning Portree-Glasgow that is a Tourismo. I think the last Glasgow-Portree service is one too as the coach will overnight in Portree.
Thanks for the info
I think you are right as those times are very optimistic.
You won't see anything on the updates if it doesn't affect the stops. Will probably just be avoiding the typical Dundee traffic on the Forfar Road.
Possibly to do with traffic going to/from the Radio 1 Big Weekend at Camperdown Park – the further east you go then the less likely the roads will be affected I would imagine.
It has been happening for a while now, seems to just be dependant on the driver, presumably to avoid congestion. The junction on Forfar Road over the Kingsway isn't really suitable for 15M coaches, if they miss the second light then they end up blocking the entire road.
The 976 and most Oban buses are very busy, so having to pre-book makes sense.
Just a normal weekend on the West Coast. Booking is recommended and if you don't you risk being turned away. Load charts will show the driver every booking on the route and this is why sometimes they leave people behind with seats empty as they are due to pick up at other stops on route.
Never used Citylink but finding this thread interesting! Surely what would ‘make sense’ would be to increase the capacity, and thus profits, rather than turning custom away. It sounds a rather quaintly managed operation all round!
But if a particular route routinely exceeds capacity, it would be a sensible move to run a seasonal duplicate would it not? Rather than turn away what sounds like it would at any other time be core custom!
Yes, had that before on the 976. People who haven't booked often get turned away at Great Western Road and Anniesland. I do wonder if a Glasgow to Arrochar service would cater for people wo get off at Luss etc.
Nope - the driver was getting fractious for a number of reasons - the icing on the cake was at Arrochar where the man admitted he and 4 chums were booked to Oban but then admitted he made a mistake and booked for that evening not the morning. The drivers response was he was picking up at Inveraray and couldn’t take them. when we reached there, nobody got on! On today’s return trip to Glasgow on the last bus with a 1815 departure, I was about to give my booking reference and he dismissed it by saying he was virtually empty. On reaching Inveraray we pulled up behind the Campbeltown bus heading for Glasgow he too only had 8 on board - we played tig on the A82 all the way back!
If passengers have booked from Inveraray the seats have to be left vacant for them to join the coach. Sometimes people don't show which means these seats now remain empty unless the driver sells tickets.
This appears to be The Citylink approach….. ‘they’ve not paid (much) so go swivel’. There are consequences on the passenger who has a reasonable right to expect passage - and what of missed ferry connections or forfeiture of B&B/Hotel payments for not turning up? In these constrained times, every penny is a prisoner. Rather than find some way to resolve the problem(s) saying ‘book in advance’ doesn’t resolve the problem.
