Timetable changes for Stagecoach bus passengers in Inverness and wider Highlands – again
REVISED timetables will be introduced to a range of bus services in Inverness later this month – the second set of changes this year.
Bus operator Stagecoach said the changes, which will apply to routes including Smithton, Culloden, Lochardil and Cradlehall, follow a public consultation.
They will include additional Sunday morning services between Culloden and the Inverness retail park plus the restoration of the Lochardil connection with Culduthel Road and the doctor’s surgery.
While one community leader thought the new timetables would be broadly welcomed, he noted it was yet another set of changes for bus passengers.
David McGrath, chairman of Smithton and Culloden Community Council, also felt future revisions would need to be introduced to meet further developments and changing needs in the city.
“They seem to keep tinkering with the timetables,” he said. “You are never quite sure exactly what they are trying to achieve.”
Although he had yet to study the changes, he believed the addition of Sunday morning services to the retail park would be welcomed by locals working there.
“There have always been complaints about the difficulties in getting to the retail park and to Raigmore Hospital,” he said.
He thought new services would need to be introduced using the UHI campus as a hub and also pointed out that a condition of the planned housing and retail development at Stratton Farm on the city’s eastern outskirt was a park and ride facility.
Cradlehall and Westhill Community Council was due to discuss the revised timetables at its meeting last night,
Chairman Duncan MacPherson said he would welcome feedback from bus users.
“I know people in Cradlehall say they cannot get a bus from Cradlehall to the retail park,” he said. “They have to go from Cradlehall into the city centre and then out again. Not everyone is a driver.”
Stagecoach said it had revised the routes of services two and three in Westhill, Smithton and Culloden “to better reflect travel habits of customers in these areas”.
Connections between Dingwall and Inverness will also be available up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays.
A new 919 will replace the current service 19 between Fort William and Inverness and will also see a cross-city connection introduced to allow customers to connect to the Inverness Campus of UHI. But service 19 between Inverness and Urquhart Castle will continue from April 24 to October 1.
Mark Whitelocks, managing director of Stagecoach North Scotland, thanked those contributing to the consultation.
“As we outlined when we started our consultation, there are a number of reasons for our decisions regarding some services, such as reduced patronage and changes to contracts with Highland Council, and sadly no change is not a sustainable option,” he said.
The changes come into force on April 24. For further information visit www.stagecoachbus.com
