Following the news of Travelsure handing back a number of local bus services provided on behalf of Scottish Borders Council last month, the Council has been working closely with Borders Buses to ensure the continuation of services.
This process has enabled not only services to be maintained, but some improvements made, with changes to be implemented from Monday 23 October. All new bus times can be found at bordersbuses.co.uk.
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Improvements include a revised Service 32 between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Duns, serving the smaller communities of Paxton, Hutton, Whitsome and Swinton, and a new hourly Service 60 between Berwick and Duns, which will also serve Eyemouth two-hourly, with two-hourly services continuing onwards from Duns to Galashiels and some direct services from Eyemouth to Borders General Hospital/Galashiels.
Based on customer feedback, the last journey from Berwick for the 60 will also be moved back to 5.15pm and the last journey from Berwick on the Service 253 will be moved to 3pm, with the last journey from Edinburgh at 6pm.
In addition, some revisions will be made to the Service 51 between Galashiels and Newtown St Boswells for journeys to Edinburgh, which will also connect with Service 67/68. This provides additional journey opportunities for the communities of Lauder and Oxton, improving links to the Borders General Hospital and Galashiels.
Borders Buses will also introduce an additional Pingo on-demand bus to operate Monday to Friday at busier times of the day, providing additional journey opportunities between Reston and Duns and better connectivity with rail services at Reston.
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Councillor Jenny Linehan, Executive Member for Environment and Transport, said: “The work undertaken by Borders Buses and officers in the past few weeks has been immense, and I am really pleased that services will not only be seamlessly retained but improved upon with the new arrangement.
“Our network of local bus services is critical to not only supporting those who do not have access to a car but also encouraging more people to use public transport.
“Providing greater connectivity with other bus and train services is a really important part of that and I welcome the new timetables and on-demand options Borders Buses are putting in place.”
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Claire Lark, operations manager for Borders Buses said: “In partnership with Scottish Borders Council, we are delighted to be introducing not only additional journeys, but a new service and improved frequency and connectivity on several key routes. We would encourage those living, working, and spending time in Berwickshire to make full use of the new journeys.
“Where there is insufficient demand for extra journeys or services, our Pingo – demand response service – will be in place to deliver journeys in certain areas currently not served by bus.”
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