Bus service battle result

Residents and Unite Community members in villages across central Scotland are celebrating their campaign victory in pushing First Bus to reconsider the axing of two vital bus routes.

The Haud the Bus campaign, created by Unite Community members in North Lanarkshire, was launched in early June after First Bus group announced plans to cut bus routes through rural villages such as Banton, because they weren’t considered profitable enough.

“We don’t have any shops in our village so without the buses many of us here would be left completely isolated,” local resident and Unite regional officer, Wendy Dunsmore, says.

“In just my immediate family the cuts would have been devastating. It would have meant my sister, who works for minimum wage in a supermarket, would lose her job as she relies on the bus to get to work.

“My daughter would have no way of getting to after-school clubs and would lose touch with many of her friends, and it would also remove any possibility of independence for my son who is disabled – he wouldn’t even be able to go buy himself a chocolate bar at the sweet shop,” Wendy says.

Petitions, demonstrations and strong community support put pressure on First Bus and prompted a U-turn decision to introduce a replacement bus service to these villages.

“The support from the local community has been huge. It just shows what we can achieve when we stand together and oppose private companies putting profit before people,” Unite community coordinator Jamie Caldwell says.

The original bus routes X86 and 24 have been replaced by the 4B service on a “use it or lose it” basis – so while the battle has been won, the war is not yet over.

“First Bus say that the bus route isn’t profitable, but of course they’re not required to quantify this before scrapping it, and they have made no effort to ask the community what kind of service they need or when is the best time to run buses,” Jamie says.

“So Unite Community are calling for the Scottish Parliament to bring in tougher restrictions on bus companies like First Bus that want to scrap ‘non profitable services’ with no regard to how it will affect the community.”

Wendy and other Haud the Bus campaigners will continue to campaign for their public transport links and lobby the Scottish Parliament for intervention.

“It’s so important MSP’s intervene to ensure our communities are maintained and rural Scotland is preserved,” Wendy says.