Whelp, the 17 is more trouble than it's worth for me heading out tonight (the 17:05 is the one I was aiming for), so First Glasgow & ScotRail are likely to get my business again:
It's all well and good having modern and on the whole well-presented Volvo/MCVs running the bulk of your core services, but imho they don't count for squat when you don't have the drivers to cover a full Sunday timetable, never mind a Mon-Sat one. Additionally, this list doesn't even remotely account for delays on Maryhill Road and elsewhere causing buses to stack, resulting in buses that are meant to be, on average, a half-hour apart in this reduced timetable appearing less than 10 minutes apart with even bigger gaps resulting. Of course, WCM aren't at fault for the never-ending roadworks, but at the same time they didn't have to take the X19 on at all, especially when one considers that the way they've done so hasn't ended well for other, smaller operators who had similar arrangements with the larger ones; the Dart Buses parallels are more relevent than some may realize. This honestly has the feeling of them over-extending themselves and any and all cracks are now clear as day.
It's a shambolic state of affairs all round and such a comedown from all the publicity surrounding extending the 15/17's operating hours at the start of the year.
