COUNCILLORS called a special meeting to debate the lack of direct public transport links between Clydebank and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

Elected members of West Dunbartonshire Council were due to gather for a requisitioned meeting to discuss public transportation to the Govan hospital, as the Post went to press yesterday (Tuesday).

The meeting, which took place at the council chambers in Clydebank Town Hall, was requested by councillors William Hendrie, Marie McNair, Jim Finn, Jonathan McColl, Jim Bollan, George Black, Jim Brown and Denis Agnew.

Local residents are furious that a direct service has not been established, particularly because more than 80 other bus links run to the medical facility. 

Furthermore, a bus service was put in place for Drumchapel residents following a campaign by Drumchapel Community Council.

Bankies currently face a change at Partick before continuing with their journey to the hospital, which opened earlier this year. 

Members of the Community Councils’ Forum were invited to attend the council meeting after raising awareness of the issue. Last week, the Post reported on the development of Bankies Opposing SPT Strategy (BOSS), a community-led campaign calling for a dedicated bus from Clydebank Bus Station to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

On Monday, the online petition had gained more than 660 online signatures. 

It states: “Too many ill, disabled, elderly, families and vulnerable people are struggling with the number of buses required to access an essential health building.

“By signing up to this campaign, you are demanding to SPT that they need to install a direct bus service, as other areas in the Greater Glasgow area have.”

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which receives £2.6 million from the council to manage public transport in West Dunbartonshire each year, previously said there was no commercial interest in establishing a direct link.

A spokeswoman for SPT said: “Many areas across Greater Glasgow do not have a direct bus service to the new hospital and it is simply not affordable to provide one.

“While the new facility is served by substantially more buses than before, it is regrettable the private sector bus operators do not feel there is a good enough commercial proposition for a direct bus service from Clydebank.”

The spokeswoman added that any possibility of the existing Drumchapel service being extended was unlikely because the move would cost £100,000 per year and there was no budget for this.