Fife Council has formally opposed the withdrawal of the X56 bus service and is now moving to secure a replacement link between the town and Halbeath Park & Ride ahead of a public meeting tonight (Thursday).
The local authority's passenger transport team has lodged an official objection to Stagecoach’s decision to axe the Perth–Edinburgh route, which runs via Kelty, but the operator is still set to end the service on commercial grounds on August 24.
As a fallback, the council is tendering a supported service to the park & ride and looking at extending its Go-Flexi demand-responsive service to cover the area, with a commitment that a replacement will be in place by the time the X56 stops running.
Councillor Bailey-Lee Robb, who has been pursuing the issue with both Stagecoach and the council since the withdrawal was announced, said he welcomed the “swift response” but warned: “A service to Halbeath Park & Ride is not a replacement for a direct Edinburgh connection, and the communities affected by this withdrawal deserve better.
"What is equally troubling is that Stagecoach have not responded to me or to other elected representatives.
"Residents and councillors are being left in the dark by the very operator responsible for this decision, and that is simply not good enough.”
Councillor Alex Campbell had previously branded the cut an "outrage", warning it will have a “massive detrimental impact” on students travelling to Fife College and on people who rely on the X56 to connect with other buses or to get to the capital, as well as Kinross and Perth.
An online petition calling for the service to be saved, which describes the route as a “lifeline” for non-drivers, disabled passengers and families using it for nursery and school runs, has now attracted more than 1,000 signatures.
Stagecoach says it understands local concerns but that a detailed review showed “continued declining customer demand” on the X56, meaning the service was “no longer sustainable”; it argued that passengers will still have options via Halbeath and that direct links will continue through Scottish Citylink.
Residents are being urged to attend a public meeting at Kelty Community Centre at 6.30pm tonight, hosted by Kelty Community Council, to share their views on the withdrawal and the council’s proposed alternatives.
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