Scots bus shake-up
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BUS SERVICES in the Mearns in North-east Scotland have had a major shake-up. W. Alexander and Sons (Northern) withdrew several services on economic grounds and others are under consideration by traffic commissioners in Edinburgh.
One of the services being considered is the Laurencekirk-Fettercairn-Edzell route via Luthermuir route. A decision is expected soon.
A number of school services are to go although Grampian Regional Council are putting out tenders for some of the routes in an effort to make greater use of private operators.
After the proposals have been put into effect, a number of routes will have better services, including Aberdeen-Stonehaven, Dundee-Forfar, Stonehaven and Montrose town services and Montrose-Stracathro Hospital, although the number of buses from Laurencekirk to Montrose and back will be reduced from nine a day to four.
Grampian's schedule of replacement services has been drawn-up after consultation with various community groups and associations.
"There will be an overall cutback in the number of men and vehicles, but we will be improving services in areas where there is a strong demand," said Mr Peter Huntley, planning manager for Grampian's department of public transport.
"We have done our best to introduce alternative services in areas where withdrawal would cause hardship, following the consultation we had with community groups," he said. Grampian Region is also to restart the direct Stonehaven-Banchory service, withdrawn five years ago.