Far North MSP pushes Minister that buses are not just about “affordability but availability”

Far North Lib Dem MSP David Green has pressed the Scottish Government after teenagers in Portmahomack were left unable to reach their college courses because no bus runs early enough to get them there. SNP Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn stopped short of committing to change.

The Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP challenged Flynn at General Questions over bus provision in rural communities, after residents warned that the current timetable simply does not work for the people who depend on it.

The intervention follows a Ross-shire Journal report on families in the village whose children cannot get to their college courses. Mr Green used the opportunity to push the Minister to consider a new model that listened to local people on when and where their buses should run. 

While the minister acknowledged there is "much more to be done" on the availability of bus services across Scotland, Flynn stopped short of committing to a new approach for communities like Portmahomack.

Speaking after the exchange, Mr Green said:

"Portmahomack is a clear example of public services failing local people when their voices are shut out of the decisions that affect them."

"I welcome the progress being made on the affordability of buses in my constituency, but when those buses can't be reached by the people who need them, the benefit slips through the cracks."

Mr Green also pressed the Transport Secretary on the impact of the £2 bus fare cap on the Far North Line, the rail route many of his constituents rely on. He said afterwards:

"The £2 fare cap is being warmly welcomed, but its impact must be properly assessed against our rail services."

"The Far North Line runs alongside the very route this cap now subsidises. My constituents depend on that railway, and it cannot be expected to compete on these terms."

The Cabinet Secretary said he would respond to the Far North MSP in due course.

ENDS.