A national bus company has come under fire from Perthshire North MSP John Swinney after he learned of changes to bus services that will affect many of his constituents.
The SNP politician has expressed his dissatisfaction with Citylink after being told services to Edinburgh from Ballinluig, Kindallachan, Birnam and Luncarty will reduce from five to two buses per day from November 23.
This latest announcement follows hard on the heels of cuts by Citylink to bus services affecting Kinross residents travelling back and forth to the Scottish capital.
Mr Swinney has spoken of his concerns over the changes.
“There will be only one return service from Edinburgh to these communities which arrives at around 11am with the result that day return to Edinburgh is now no longer possible,” he said.
“Services for Bridge of Tilt, Blair Atholl and Perth City have also been affected.
“I have discussed this reduction in service with a number of constituents and I understand very clearly the vital nature of these services and the effect that these reductions will have on connectedness within rural communities.
“All these communities are adjacent to the A9 and it seems to me that there would be little impact on the timetable to reintroduce more stops to the winter timetable.
“Even in Perth City there has been a reduction in Citylink services which now makes commuting to Edinburgh very challenging for some constituents.”
He added: “I have contacted Citylink to present the concerns of my constituents and to underline to the company the importance of these services within Perthshire North. I have also contacted the Minister of Transport at the Scottish Government to raise this issue.”
However, a spokesperson for Citylink claimed that “very few people” use the bus services between Ballinluig, Kindallachan, Birnam and Luncarty to Edinburgh.
“For that reason, we have taken the decision to reduce the number of services on this route,” she said.
“However, there are also local service buses which allow people to connect in Perth to Scottish Citylink services travelling to Edinburgh. There are still around 30 services per day between Perth and Edinburgh, between our services and those of other operators.
“We recently confirmed that we are adding a new service which will depart Edinburgh Bus Station at 5.15pm, arriving at Perth Bus Station at 6.40pm.
In addition, Stagecoach East Scotland is introducing new services between Edinburgh and Perth from November 23, providing other journey options for people travelling between these locations.
“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 requesting any changes to our plans.”