A bus passenger from Perth is enraged at planned cuts to services.
Mrs Morag MacKenzie, 52, told The Courier that she has travelled to work in Edinburgh for 15 years and that this is the first time she may have to find alternative arrangements to get home to the Fair City.
She got word of the changes and questioned Citylink and Stagecoach, but said the response from both bus companies was “very unsatisfactory.”
“At the moment, those of us working in Edinburgh can chose from five buses to bring us home, either to the bus station or Broxden – 4.30pm, 4.55pm, 5.15pm, 5.25pm and 6pm,” she said.
“From November 23, this will be reduced to 4.30pm and then 7.10pm. Two buses will however run direct to Dundee.”
Mrs MacKenzie continued: “At a time when we are being encouraged to cut down car use, I find I difficult to understand why the Stagecoach group, having started in and being headquartered in Perth, are happy for two of their flagship brands to almost cut Perth off from the intercity coach network.
“All of us that use these buses are quite shocked by these changes, which we only found about on Monday.”
A spokesperson for Citylink stated the reason behind the cuts to bus services was due to “fewer passengers.”
“Like all businesses, from time to time we take a look at our network to determine which services are most in demand and which have fewer passengers using them,” she said.
“This is to ensure we are providing the kind of services that reflect the travel habits of our customers. As a result, we are making some changes to our services between Edinburgh and Perth.
“From November 23, we are withdrawing and amending a small number of services to reflect passenger demand. We work hard to make sure that we are using our resources effectively to meet the needs of as many of our customers as possible.
“These changes will help us to deliver a strong and stable network in the longer term. We carried out a consultation with local authorities and received no responses raising any concerns with our plans.”
However, a spokesperson for Stagecoach East Scotland said passengers will have the opportunity to use the X55 service, which currently operates between Edinburgh and Dunfermline.
She said: “As a result, the route will serve Perth with two new evening peak services being introduced, departing Edinburgh at 5.15pm and 6.05pm, ensuring that there will be a number of journey options between Edinburgh and Perth during the evening peak for customers.
“More details of our new timetable for the route will be announced shortly.”