Bus services return to New Row
Siew Peng Lee • Published 8 Jun 2012 08:40
11 Comments
A DUNFERMLINE social club is "delighted" that Stagecoach have brought buses back to a city centre street.
The Royal British Legion in New Row was at the forefront of a public protest last year against the bus company, after changes to the Rosyth-Ballingry 19 service rerouted buses away from a large area of central Dunfermline.
Stagecoach were slated by residents who said they were "stuck in their homes" and revised the D5 and D6 services to serve Nethertown Broad Street and New Row every 20 minutes.
But now routes 72A, 72C and 73 will return "to improve service reliability".
The developments have been welcomed by the Royal British Legion, which has struggled to survive as members could not get into the club due to the lack of public transport.
Club steward Janice Gray beamed, "It's fantastic news. A lot of our elderly members couldn't get up when they stopped the buses.
"Hopefully this will bring them back in. It was a big shock to the club as well - we had a dramatic drop in numbers when the 19 left, it dropped by at least half.
"A lot of them couldn't walk up the hill and back down again.
"It was quite a shame because for a lot of the older ones, it was their weekly or daily time out.
"It was their social life and the fact that they couldn't get up here had an effect on them. It's their home from home, it's like part of their family."
The buses will serve New Row and James Street and Janice said members were "delighted".
She continued, "We're still needing more people to come in but all the clubs round about Fife are struggling and hopefully we'll see a good improvement.
"Hopefully, once word of mouth gets round, more will come back. They've missed us and we've missed them.
"The buses will pass the doorstep and any business coming back up is good news."
The changes commenced last Monday and were made "primarily to improve reliability", as Stagecoach's monitoring showed delays were being caused by entering and departing the bus station.
The current roadworks on Carnegie Drive seem to have only made the problem worse.
Stagecoach in Fife operations director Sarah Longair said, "We are constantly monitoring our routes and services and it was clear the 72 service was struggling to keep to time along its route.
"Rather than add extra time to the circular journey, we felt it would be more appropriate to return a bus link to James Street and New Row, as something that was highlighted to us last year.
"Although the 72 will no longer serve Dunfermline bus station, it now operates through more areas of the town centre and connections will still be possible at the bus station for longer-distance routes."
Timetables are available from Dunfermline bus station and online at www.stagecoachbus.com.
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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maclam
317 posts
Jun 9, 01:23
Report commentthe public must have lost count of the number of times routes and times have been changed by stagecoach in the dunfermline area , and over 3 pounds to go into the town and back from abbeyview is a disgrace.
Recommend?
Yes 11
No 1
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dmac
4 posts
Jun 9, 13:06
Report commentI've yet to notice an improvement in the 72/73 services since the move to James Street - 4 buses came in 20 minutes (3 of them in 5 minutes) in Townhill yesterday afternoon! Haven't tried them at the Abbeyview end yet, but before the move I was waiting 25 minutes+ after due times, with 2 buses coming at once. Definitely not receiving the service we're paying for.
Recommend? Yes 8
No 1
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Mikeintheknow
37 posts
Jun 9, 20:22
Report commentmaclam Why not buy a DAYRIDER: £3.10 for unlimited travel around the town or £10.50 for the whole week.
The changes have been caused by the continuing changing made by the "LAST COUNCIL" to the town centre.
Recommend? Yes 4
No 3
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feral07
6 posts
Jun 10, 19:21
Report commentThe reason its going back to James street is that the road that the buses travel down can't take the amount of traffic.
Recommend? Yes 0
No 0
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ToughLuck
1 post
Jun 12, 17:50
Report commentSo now residents in the Woodmill/Beveridge Street area have NO buses to the bus station during the day? Well done Stagecoach! Surely three buses per hour serving the New Row is more than adequate so why include last year's complaints as part of the reason for the changes?
Recommend? Yes 0
No 1
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davidcolin
6 posts
Jun 12, 21:47
Report commentThis is terrible to be honest, the last time i got on one of your buses it took me 45mins to get from Tesco, Duloch Park to Dunfermline Town! Now CLEARLY that is not supposed to happen and not just that, the prices have severely risen!!!
What has improved ..... Nothing!!!
Recommend? Yes 2
No 0
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outflow
16 posts
Jun 13, 15:57
Report commentI remember getting the old 77 from the dockyard to the town for 50p
Recommend? Yes 3
No 1
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vinoboy35
70 posts
Jun 13, 19:01
Report commentAn over subsidised service by Council taxpayers with too many buses driving around empty .I suspect many routes could be rationalised in Dunfermline town area .
A real improvement would be direct buses to places like Stirling on an hourly basis rather than the current set up with loads of stops in obscure places.
Recommend? Yes 2
No 1
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redrobin
285 posts
Jun 13, 20:00
Report commentYeah ouflow,,with respect when was that?..Gotta move on...the bus service we have is what we deserve...yes it fails at times..don't blame the driver!!!..compared to other places it's a pretty dam good service
Recommend? Yes 2
No 6
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******
Jun 14, 10:40
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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******
Jun 14, 13:56
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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******
Jun 14, 14:11
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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redrobin
285 posts
Jun 14, 19:40
Report commentOh here we go again. thank goodness for the moderator!..suggest the ignorant individual who has been moderated talks to the the lady who will try to get dunfermline first but there again you will never satisfy ????
Recommend? Yes 0
No 1
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Elffie
8 posts
Jun 15, 10:32
Report commentBe nice if a bus ran through Dalgety Bay to Glenrothes or Glasgow again. Even getting to Cowdenbeath takes hours! Yes some buses run empty for part of the day but these routes need advertised NOT cut folks!!! Not everyone drives and the bus is kinder to the environment, so it justifies subsidies.
Recommend? Yes 0
No 0
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