Everyone feels sorry for people with mobility problems. However, the vast majority of people using public transport from Braemar and Ballater are travelling for long periods on the bus to get to Aberdeen and back. We need to get to Aberdeen.

If you live in Braemar, the round trip takes well over 4 hours and about 3 hours 20 minutes from Ballater. These journeys are usually made in the same day.

The coaches used at the moment are comfortable and the high riding position gives good views of our beautiful scenery. You could argue that this persuades local people to leave their cars at home and use the bus more often, or visitors to use the service to come and join us.

A short struggle getting to a comfortable seat is probably worth the effort, if you are then going to sit on it for hours and hours.

Bus travel is always going to be difficult for anyone with mobility problems and very difficult for wheelchair users. But is making everybody sit for hours on a bus designed for short city trips the answer ?

While appreciating what I think are the motives behind the complaints against Stagecoach, I do feel they would have been better coming from someone living in one of the more remote areas on Deeside, rather than someone living in Aberdeen.

Personally I think that we are fortunate to have such good comfortable coaches running up the Dee Valley and the service (at least as far as Ballater) is as good as anyone could reasonably expect. If you have a good driver, he will give you time to sit down and accelerate away smoothly- if he does not - then complain.

Please don't change anything - at least until the alternatives have been given a proper trial.

Yours etc
M Preston
Ballater