A retired Glenfarg pharmacist will join a band of volunteers driving a community bus as neighbours tackle poor public transport in the area.
Christine Morton learned to drive mini-buses while volunteering with the Scouts. She will bring her talents to bear to help her neighbours when a free community bus service launches today.
She said: “We are positive going forward. It’s a necessary development as we might be losing all of our bus services.”
Many living in and around Glenfarg have found it difficult to get about since Stagecoach drastically reduced the 56 service from the village.
‘I hope someone does the same for me’
Christine is one of small group – the Glenfarg Community Transport Group – who have taken the matter into their own hands. The group have set up a charity to run a supplementary daytime service.
“At least if we can get some of the more socially isolated people to our coffee morning in the village hall and then take them either to lunch or to the shops in Kinross afterwards,” she said.
“We are providing a much needed service. And when I’m older, I hope somebody else will be doing the same for me.”
Glenfarg bus group ‘just getting off the ground’
The community will run the bus every Thursday at the outset with an ambition to expand the service once they have attracted more funding.
Douglas Fraser is chair of Glenfarg Community Council. He said there is a lack of public bus services in rural communities across Kinross and the Kinross-shire area.
The Thursday bus will run on an established timetable and loop, including the nearby café at Loch Leven’s Larder and into Kinross.
He said: “Just as Covid hit, Stagecoach decided to withdraw the 56 pretty much from the village.
“We need to have a bus that offers the community in Glenfarg an alternative. It gives groups within the village a bit more opportunity to get out and about without relying on cars.”
He said the group will continue to raise money to expand the bus service in the future, ideally buying their own vehicle.
“We would like to recognise the support of the community and Perth and Kinross Council for getting us off the ground with some financial assistance,” he added.
Perth and Kinross Council already fund a limited service between Glenfarg and Kinross, operated by local firm Earnside Coaches.
The local authority will also loan the group a 16-seater minibus from its fleet for the Thursday run.
A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “We are aware of this initiative, which will allow customers to make onward connections to Stagecoach services into Perth.
“We will be providing support to the group to help them get out on the road.”
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