700 get on board to oppose route axe Petition calls for bus rethink
Almost 700 people have written to bus operator Stagecoach East to oppose plans to axe the Stirling to St Andrews service.
The deadline for consultation over the move was Friday, August 7, but in recent weeks Stirling and Clackmannanshire politicians have been urging the company to reconsider, branding the decision “shortsighted.”
Stagecoach East however have stated that the service had already been “underperforming” before the coronavirus pandemic.
This week Mid Scotland and Green MSP Mark Ruskell pointed to a Scottish Greens’ online petition set up which showed that 673 people had objected to the withdrawal of the 23 bus service.
Passenger Alison Marshall of Dollar has told how service 23 was the only direct service towns like Dollar had between the two destinations and
“a vital link for young and old”.
Mr Ruskell said this week: “Private bus companies should not be able to use the pandemic as an excuse to withdraw vital services and leave communities isolated. “The 23 is a lifeline route and Stagecoach’s decision to abandon it will leave some without any public transport at all. “Removing the service will also eliminate one of the only long distance public transport options connecting Stirling and St Andrews.
“More than ever rural communities need reliable, good quality public transport and they can’t be left to pay the price of Stagecoach’s penny pinching.”
Stagecoach however insisted this week that existing bus services could be used to connect some of the Stirling-st Andrews route.
A spokesperson said: “We’re proposing to withdraw service 23 as it was under-performing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasing costs mean that it operates at a significant loss, resulting in us no longer being able to commercially run this service.
“The service runs through four different local authorities, with a choice of different services to replace the 23.
“This means customers can use different services and operators for the same journey, some of which are of a much higher frequency, allowing them the flexibility to travel more often.
“There is one part of this route which will no longer be served and we are in discussions with the local authority regarding this.”