Stagecoach has confirmed that it will cease to operate the majority of its services in Dumfries & Galloway after being unable to reach an agreement on upcoming new tenders. The company will also withdraw most of its commercial services in the area, which it says are no longer commercially viable following the loss of the contracted routes.
A spokesperson for Stagecoach said: “Earlier this year Dumfries & Galloway Council and SWestrans ran a tender process for services in the region as current contracts expire on 6 August. A number of the contracts are currently operated by ourselves. While reviewing
the terms of the contracts being tendered, we identified a liability clause that was far in excess of the value of the contracts on offer.
“We’re unfortunately unable to agree to a contract on these disproportionate terms. We’ve been working with the council and SWestrans to find a solution to the procurement ask, but unfortunately the liability levels required by the council have made this impossible. As a result, our tender submissions have been disqualified as non-compliant. This creates a position that also makes operating our current commercial services in the area no longer commercially viable.
“Back in May we therefore sent the council and SWestrans our 70-day notice to deregister our commercial bus services, except the X74, to comply with the statutory notice requirements while we await the official award of contracts from the tender round on Monday 23 June. The 79 will continue to operate but from our Carlisle depot. We remain committed to ensuring the communities in the region remain connected during the notice period and are working with local officials to minimise any disruption.
“We are working closely with colleagues whose employment with Stagecoach will be directly affected at our Dumfries and Stranraer depots, to support them throughout this process.” Commenting on the matter, Dumfries and Galloway Council explained: “In conjunction with regional transport partnership SWestrans, Dumfries and Galloway Council is engaged in a live tender process to reprocure bus services. SWestrans is responsible for delivery of the local bus network, while the home-to-school transport network is the statutory responsibility of Dumfries and Galloway Council.
“The contracts for bus services for home-to-school transport are due to expire at the end of this academic year and the subsidised local bus network contracts operated by SWestrans will end on 3 August 2025. There is a need to re-procure contracts to provide these services from August 2025.
“As part of the tender process, the council and SWestrans need to ensure that we have bus operators that meet minimum requirements on a range of industry-standard terms and conditions. This is in order to protect the public interest. Dumfries and Galloway Council and SWestrans continue to work through a tender process that has supporting and connecting the communities of Dumfries and Galloway firmly at its heart.
“The council takes its statutory duties to provide those children entitled to school transport extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring all school transport routes are operational for the start of the school year in August, with these routes being given priority. In addition, the council and SWestrans are committed to providing a well-connected local bus network. These long-term contracts will provide bus operators with certainty and stability in a market that is increasingly fragile and unsustainable.
“The evaluation, clarification and negotiations relating to tenders received from bus operators is ongoing and confidential. With this in mind, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
