Stagecoach Highland will run a bus between Inverness and Caithness to pick up passengers stranded by ScotRail cuts.
It follows complaints that a temporary ScotRail timetable slashing hundreds of services has hit the Far North Line between Inverness and Caithness disproportionately.
The last train travelling to Wick and Thurso now leaves Inverness at 2pm instead of 6pm – and only two services now run instead of four.
Move welcome ‘but only for the short term’
MP Jamie Stone said the new bus was to be welcomed “but in no way does this absolve the railway company and the Scottish Government from their responsibility to restore these services”.
“I say this for two reasons,” he added.
“First, the railway is a vital strategic asset and if you reduce services beyond a certain point then the whole viability of the service gets called into question.
“Secondly, railways are the greenest way to travel by far and anyone who cares about the planet should be fully signed up to the idea that railways are crucial.”
Temporary Stagecoach Highland bus service times
Stagecoach Highland boss David Beaton said the ‘Inverness to Caithness corridor’ was identified as an area with a pressing transport gap following the ScotRail cuts.
With the current temporary timetable, at the moment just two train services cover 5,705 sq miles of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty.
Mr Beaton said from June 6 a new bus will depart Inverness at 11.50am and return from Thurso at 7pm on weekdays.
A new bus service normally takes around 70 days to secure approval from the traffic commissioner, but the decision-time was slashed to just a few days due to the increased need, said Mr Beaton.
Talks ongoing to reverse ScotRail cuts
Train drivers have been offered an improved 4.2% pay offer to try and end the newly nationalised ScotRail pay dispute which has seen a third of services cut.
There is no news yet if this has been accepted.
Meanwhile however the cuts caused by the dispute over drivers’ pay is making it difficult for commuters to get to work on time and for patients to make it to medical appointments.
ScotRail said it will review its emergency timetable for improvements.
Bosses are in talks with the rail union Aslef in an attempt to settle the dispute after Aslef issued an open letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calling for “leadership and positive political intervention”.
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