McGill's buses fined nearly £30,000 over faults and punctuality

McGill’s has been fined after an inquiry found some of its buses were not running to schedule or in a fit state.

Traffic commissioner Richard Turfitt issued McGills Buses a final warning, saying the Greenock company cannot use the poor state of its vehicles as an excuse for failing to meet timetables.

It came after incidents, including a bus catching fire.

McGill’s says it regrets the issues which came up after buying the business in 2022, and the company is investing heavily to strengthen the fleet.

The Traffic Commissioner found the company had failed to meet expected maintenance and management standards and handed down a fine of £29,700.

An inquiry was held to look at the operator’s compliance with its licence undertakings, including punctuality, vehicle maintenance, defect reporting, and overall transport management.

Evidence from Bus Users Scotland highlighted passenger concerns about the reliability and punctuality of services.

Monitoring data and complaints showed buses were not consistently running to schedule, undermining public confidence and breaching licence obligations.

One notable incident involved a bus catching fire while in service.

The Commissioner found that McGill’s Bluebird had failed to meet compliance standards, citing weaknesses in systems for identifying and fixing vehicle defects and lapses in maintenance oversight.

Although the Commissioner acknowledged that the operator had since taken steps to improve, including investment in new systems and staff changes, he said deterrent action was necessary to ensure public expectations were met.

The penalty was issued under section 39 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001.

Traffic commissioner Nick Denton Turfitt said: “I make very clear that these operators can no longer use the poor state of vehicles as an excuse for failing to meet published timetables.

“Both are given a final warning. I find the repute of each entity to be severely tarnished by the finding of maintenance issues identified at the hearing. Any further reports are likely to result in consideration of more extensive intervention.”

In response, a McGill’s spokesperson said the company regretted the issues identified but stressed that significant improvements had since been made.

“We acknowledge the findings of the Traffic Commissioner, and it is a matter of regret that we suffered unacceptable maintenance and punctuality issues, much of which arose immediately after we acquired the businesses in 2022″, the company said.

“Since then, we’ve strengthened engineering leadership, introduced more detailed inspections at four-weekly intervals, and invested £14m in a new fleet of 30 zero-emission buses.

“Safety and reliability are non-negotiable for our business.”

The Commissioner confirmed that McGill’s operations will be closely monitored to ensure lasting improvements in service reliability and compliance.