In the near future, the island's bus services will see a deterioration in levels of service. It is reported on the Hebrides News website that the buses, currently serving the town of Stornoway and environs, will be latched onto existing out-of-town buses. The article also discusses issues surrounding tendering (or not, as the case may be), but the upshot does appear to be that nobody will be any the better for the imminent changes.
Buses to Back will divert through the Cearns
Buses to Ranish will take in Newvalley
Buses to Point will go via Melbost
This will mean longer journeys for those in outlying areas, whose bus is diverted to take in another village.
Reading the article, it would seem the town circular route, running through Newton, past the Springfield Road Health Centre, up Perceval Road to the Hospital and, after a loop through the Cearns, back into town along Macaulay Road, will disappear. Although not a terribly busy route, people will be inconvenienced.
I have always had a lot of regard for the level of bus service in this island, bearing in mind that it has a population of only 20,000 or so. It is a pity that about half of them stand to lose out if this restructuring goes ahead.
sometimes it seems so frustrating to just sit and see things that you've got used to having, literally deteriorate around you ...
ReplyDeleteThere are so many people without transport on the islands ... One of the things I noticed when I first came to live here was that it was 'safe' to pick up the people who were thumbing a lift at the side of the road, and listening to their stories only made me more likely to do so in the future ...
One man, in particular stays in my mind - he worked somewhere near the lighthouse in Breasclete, but lived in Stornoway, and had no transport ... He got to work in the same way every day, and presumably got home the same way too - by thumbing a lift ...
and there was also the man who went visiting his brother across the same distances, by exactly the same methods ...
However public transport is in a class of its own ... Even the german S-Bahn runs at a loss, as probably does British Rail ...
It just depends how much stock the subsidising bodies put on availability of affordable transport ...
As a resident in remote spot (Gravir) I can see how very important the bus link is.....It is a sore point locally at present that our kids have such along school journey....some having to be on bus for 7.15am......but I cannot see how these facilities can ever be viewed as commercially viable at any time so we will have to accept cuts/modified services and bigger chunk of local taxation to keep any services.........maybe the young and elderly need more of a voice? RJG
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