Bus problems in area
I wonder if I might add something of a corrective to the picture conveyed by Paul McGowan, the director of ‘FirstBus’ operations in West Lothian who seemed to present a rather rosy picture of future company operations in West Lothian with the introduction of a new timetable into the country from May 8th?
As such, my comments are in connection with the operation of FirstBus services from the west of the country – principally Armadale and Bathgate and with particular reference to that service which is currently provide by the no.20/X20- a service which is rather summarily dismissed by Mr McGowan in his recent article.
I shall concentrate my remarks to that service since this is the one that I most frequently use on a daily basis first thing in the morning to enable me to get to my work in Edinburgh.
Along with the other 50-60 odd folk who catch this and its ‘sister’ service which operate between 5.43 and 6.20 (from Bathgate), we have all been dismayed at the decision by FirstBus to remove the 20 from its timetable since we were neither consulted nor informed until the very last minute that ‘our’ service was to be removed or about its replacements - 21 or the 29 – which would mean adding an extra half hour to our early morning commute into Edinburgh or if one was to take the 29 having to wait for another bus at Broxburn thereby entailing an additional delay!
Mr McGowan mentions ‘low passenger numbers’ as one of the reasons for the company abolishing this service as well as the impact of the railways.
Well, I am not sure what he means by ‘low passenger numbers’ since for the 60-odd people who use both early morning services which are essential to allow us to get into our work - not everyone finds the train an acceptable alternative – even for those of us who travel into Edinburgh let alone those of my fellow passengers who work at Newbridge, Ratho or Edinburgh Airport and have an early start at their work.
Indeed, my own early morning commute into Edinburgh to be a lot cheaper and just as timely for me as if I took the train so I fail to understand why FirstBus has decided to axe its last direct bus service from Armadale/Bathgate to Edinburgh?
The strategic and social consequences of such a dramatic shift in policy do not appear even to have been considered by ‘FirstBus’ let alone solicit the views of passengers of this service before making their decisionwell, aside from those who live at Deer Park, for some reason.
Once again, the transport needs of folk living in the west of the county are being treated with contempt by ‘FirstBus’ whose long term policy would appear simply to service the needs of its users in Livingston and Broxburn and to hell with folk in Bathgate or Armadale. David W. Main, By email.