STEWART PATERSON

On a map, if you don’t really know Glasgow too well, the trip from Maryhill to Springburn looks straightforward.

But it isn’t, it is far from straightforward. There are two buses taking you between the areas which have a frequency of two an hour.

The DWP say it takes 30 minutes to get the three miles from Maryhill to Springburn Jobcentres. So we decided to put it to the test.

I arrived at Maryhill Jobcentre at 8 am and I had the choice of a seven minute walk to take a 90 or wait at the bus stop opposite for an 8.

I opted for the closer and arrived at the bus stop at 8.10 seven minutes before the bus was due.

No bus arrived and on closer inspection of the timetable it stated the time table may be altered on school holidays.

Altered it was and the bus arrived at 08.55, by which time the cold was stating to bite, so there goes my attempt at arriving in time for an imaginary 9 am appointment.

So the bus is even less frequent during school holidays but the Jobcentre doesn’t shut on every school holiday and people still need to sign on.

If they are late there will be consequences, which could lead to sanctions.

I paid the £4.50 for an all-day ticket, a fair chunk of a Jobseekers Allowance payment.

The route takes you through various communities in the north of the city, Gilshochill, Cadder, Lambhill, Miltion, Parkhouse, Possilpark, Keppochill before arriving at Springburn right opposite the Jobcentre.

I arrived at the destination at 09.24. It took half an hour on the bus but an hour and a quarter since I set out on the journey.

I could have walked it quicker albeit in the freezing cold Glasgow winter.

As the crow flies it could look to some people sitting in an office somewhere in a DWP HQ a reasonable trip to expect someone to take to get to a Jobcentre.

But buses aren’t crows and we have since learned that the DWP only looked at maps and websites and didn’t test the routes in real time by actually getting on a bus.

If they had it might be a different story.