Bus company says St Andrews bus route was '˜not viable'

Stagecoach said reducing the no23 route to a three-hourly service from August 15 was necessary because lack of custom meant the service was no longer financially viable.

However, resident Linda Dale claims mismanagement by Stagecoach meant the A91 route - which was previously popular - became unusable.

She said: “In response to many complaints that the bus was always late from Stirling, causing passengers to miss connections, a timetable review was undertaken in November 2015 - and this is where it becomes utterly farcical.

“Instead of starting the bus 15 minutes early from Stirling, the powers-that-be decided to change the timetable on the outward journey from Stirling so that it reflected the actual times being achieved. This did not help any passenger who was missing connections but it did mean that they no longer had grounds for complaint!”

According to Ms Dale, the return journey was altered to 15 minutes earlier, meaning buses were practically empty.

She explained: “Previously the bus had rendered a valuable service for those needing to attend doctors, dentists, legal services, The Adamson Hospital and shops in Cupar.

“The new timetable meant that now the time between the outward and return journey was reduced from 45 minutes to 18 minutes - no time to do any of the above vital errands.”

Douglas Robertson, commercial director for Stagecoach East Scotland said the company appreciated customer feedback.

He added: “Unfortunately we will be removing some journeys on service 23 from Monday 15 August as a result of continued low usage of these journeys, meaning they are not commercially viable.

The frequency of service 23 will be reduced to operate every three hours due to the decrease in demand.“New timetables for 15 August changes are now available from travel shops and online at stagecoachbus.com.”