Councillors are being urged to “deplore” the proposed axing of a bus route to an Aberdeen suburb.
Kingswells councillor Steve Delaney has submitted a motion to next week’s full council meeting calling on members to back the retention of the X40 service in the area.
First Bus plan on scrapping the service by the end of the year, which is “effectively leaving an entire community without access to public transport” according to Mr Delaney’s motion.
The transport giant cited low passenger numbers and the challenging north-east economy for the decision.
The routes, which ran from the busy suburb into Aberdeen via the hospital, will no longer include Kingswells and instead, start at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) and go on to Dubford and Northfield.
As well as “deploring” the situation the motion further calls for the director of infrastructure to seek a meeting with First and other transport operators to try to find a solution.
Now, Liberal Democrat Mr Delaney said he hopes he can win cross-party approval at next Thursday’s meeting.
He said: “This motion is not about politicking, I want to get as many councillors from across the parties to support this.
“I’m hoping we can work together to save this important service for all Kingswells.”
A First Bus spokesman said: “First Aberdeen is consulting with Aberdeen City Council on the decision and is continuing to hold meetings with local representatives and other stakeholders following the announcement.
“This decision was taken because of low passenger numbers on the service which made it unviable. We embarked on a number of measures aimed at turning this around but unfortunately these did not have the desired effect.
“We welcome discussion on any steps that can be taken to encourage bus patronage across the local network going forward.”
