Four West Fife Labour Councillors have written to the Chief Executive of Stagecoach demanding the company rethink plans to change services, urging them to instead invest in services to help people meet challenges caused by price rises across the economy.
Stagecoach published its revised plans last week and four councillors; Cllr. Graeme Downie (West Fife & Coastal Villages); Cllr. Cara Hilton (Dunfermline South); Cllr. Gordon Pryde (Dunfermline North); and Cllr. Andrew Verrecchia (Rosyth) have received calls, emails and social media messages from local people complaining about the changes.
In their letter to Martin Griffiths, the four Councillors say they are worried changes being proposed will add significantly to financial pressures people are facing and make it harder for them to maintain or access jobs and educational opportunities.
They highlight specific cases from commuters, wheelchair users and public service workers pointing out the problems with service changes.
Rather than cutting services, the four Councillors have asked for an urgent meeting with Stagecoach to discuss the proposed changes as well as how the company might consider increasing services to help people in West Fife handle an incredibly tough period by increasing the provision of bus services in this area.
——ENDS——
For more information, contact Graeme Downie on 07973 300 184 or at graeme@graemedownie.com
IMAGE: Cllr. Graeme Downie, Cllr. Cara Hilton, Cllr. Gordon Pryde and Cllr. Andrew Verrecchia at Dunfermline Bus Station.
Full text of letter (29 August 2022)
“Dear Mr. Griffiths
We are writing to you jointly as Councillors representing Dunfermline and West Fife to ask you to halt changes to Stagecoach’s timetable and, instead, invest in more services in the area to help people meet the difficult financial circumstances they face.
The changes being proposed will significantly add to financial pressures people are facing and make it harder for them to maintain or access jobs and educational opportunities.
Effective public transport is always an essential part of a successful economy but even more so at a time of sky-rocketing petrol prices and with the costs of energy, food and essentials increasing sharply.
As a result, more and more people will need to rely on your bus services in West Fife and to slash them in the way you are planning will add another concern to people and families throughout the area.
Since the launch of the consultation on these plans just a few days ago (23 August), we have been contacted by a number of our constituents worried about the effects they will have:
In particular, we have already heard from people in our areas worried about:
- Parents struggling to collect children from school or childcare because of the need to use a car or get a taxi which also adds significantly to cost.
- Harder for shift workers such as nurses and refuse workers that will find it harder to get to and from work late at night or early in the morning.
- Further reductions in rural bus services in West Fife making it harder to travel just a few miles between two villages, when that journey can already take up to two hours and is essential to use particularly health services in the area.
- Young people unable to access work and educational opportunities as they are less likely to have access to a car.
- Increased carbon emissions as people are compelled to use their car more
Specifically, we have been told of some specific concerns regarding the proposed changes:
- A person who finishes work in Edinburgh at 5pm will be unable to get home to Saline, a village in rural West Fife, until 8pm unless he pays for a taxi, which he can’t afford.
- A disabled woman in Abbeyview who will likely have to give up the job she loves as there will now be no bus serving her street and she is unable to walk the length of Aberdour Rd or through Abbeyview to get the proposed alternative service.
- Fife Council staff will be unable to travel by bus from Dunfermline to Bankhead because two early buses from the city to Glenrothes have been cancelled.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with members of your team urgently to go through these issues in detail.
In addition to rolling back these specific changes, we hope to discuss how Stagecoach can help people in our communities through what will be an incredibly tough period by increasing the provision of bus services in this area.
We look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Sincerely,”