There has been strong criticism of Stagecoach’s changes to Dunfermline town centre bus services that have left many older folk out in the cold.
The move has prompted local councillor Willie Sullivan and Fife Labour leader Alex Rowley to ask Fife Council to look at options for supporting a local bus service to help older members of the community.
A letter has been sent to bus operators Stagecoach voicing “deep disappointment” at the way passengers have been treated.
But there was a glimmer of hope on Wednesday for those facing a long walk up and down New Row. Stagecoach said that following further comments it had agreed to alter the D5/D6 service to serve Nethertown Broad Street and New Row, providing a low floor bus every 20 minutes. But that won’t start until March 21.
Stagecoach said, “The decision to re-route service 19, via Dunfermline bus station and St Margaret’s Drive instead of James Street and New Row, was made to improve the service’s reliability, which had been affected by traffic in James Street. It is one of several improvements in west Fife as a result of feedback at our bus surgery in Dunfermline.”
But Mr Rowley said the withdrawal of the 19/19A buses from much of central Dunfermline was having a “major negative impact on pensioners in the area”.
He said, “The first point is that people in this area have gone from having a low floor bus every 12 to 20 minutes to a one hour service without any consultation whatsoever. There are many pensioners in this area so they all have a bus pass but no bus service.”Flexible serviceWith Mr Sullivan, he is asking Fife Council to look at other options to support a service that is flexible and ensure older people have a quality town centre service. “We’ve requested a meeting with council officials to discuss options and alternatives for a service,” he said.
The trouble started when the 19 Rosyth-to-Ballingry service was rerouted away from James Street and New Row to the bus station.
The 76 runs hourly up and down the New Row and also serves Moodie Street and James Street and the D3 runs every 20 minutes but downhill only from James Street via New Row, Moodie Street and Nethertown Broad Street. It means the only bus stop without a service is the westbound stop in Nethertown Broad Street.
Gary Moyes, lead officer, network planning and information for Fife Council, said, “Service 19 is a commercial service operated by Stagecoach and Fife Council has no authority over its routing or timetable.
“When we were informed of the route change which now serves Dunfermline bus station we raised the issue of frequency reduction in New Row with Stagecoach.
“Recent discussions suggest that Stagecoach is looking at a solution to provide an alternative service via the New Row and we welcome this.”
Normally, a bus company must notify the council of its intentions 70 days before a service changes and then must register the details with the Traffic Commissioner 56 days before the service changes.
This time period can only be shortened if the council issues a letter of support to the Traffic Commissioner. In the case of Service 19, it is believed Stagecoach notified the council of its intention to reroute on December 13, 70 days before February 21, to be the start date for serving the bus station and the accompanying withdrawal from New Row/Nethertown Broad Street.
However, due to the severe weather and gridlock in James Street and East Port caused by Christmas shoppers queuing to use the multi-storey car park, the service was suffering serious reliability issues, Councillor Rowley has been told. It seems that the solution to maintain reliability was to avoid the area for the duration of the festive season until services returned to normal early this month.
But because that would have meant removing the service for three weeks and then returning it to its traditional route for six before it was changed in February, it “made no sense and was not in the best interests of the passengers.”
Fife Council agreed to support the short notice change from December 20 to ensure the service could run as smoothly as possible during the Christmas congestion and also not to inconvenience passengers by changing the route three times in two months.
Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user markhillary.