Our bus service was cancelled so we started our own

Faced with the "nightmare" of losing its section autobus service, residents of a Perthshire colony decided to instrumentality implicit the way themselves.

The 55 Glenfarg to Kinross work was axed earlier this twelvemonth aft its operators Earnside Coaches retired.

But acknowledgment to a radical of volunteers and the recruitment of 3 full-time drivers, the work is backmost and proving much fashionable than ever.

It present runs an hourly regular work six days a week, starting astatine 07:10.

Glenfarg Community Transport Group said the 55 work present enjoys astir 300 rider journeys per week, an summation of 200 connected past year.

Group president Drew Smart said: "Behind those 300 journeys each week, determination are 300 stories.

"It's a large autobus to beryllium on, the banter, the fig of problems we lick oregon effort to solve.

"It's not astir buses, it's truly astir people."

Drew said moving the work themselves gives the way a flexibility it did not person successful the past.

He said: "We've got a fewer people, due to the fact that of mobility issues, we don't expect them to travel to the autobus stop, we'll travel into the colony and prime them up astatine the door.

"When we get into Kinross we'll driblet them astatine the doorway of wherever they're going.

"The drivers are brilliant, they spell good supra and beyond."

One of the passengers, Kareen Macgregor, agrees.

She said: "I don't thrust truthful it was a nightmare before. We needed the service. It's great, everybody loves it."

David Keith, 1 of the full-time drivers, said the rider numbers person "blown expectations retired of the water."

He said: "We person our regulars, but we spot much and much radical coming connected who person ne'er utilized the work before.

"I emotion coming into my enactment and gathering the people, galore radical successful the colony accidental it's transformed their lives."

The buses tally from 07:10 until astir 18:00, with the archetypal work connecting to the Ember autobus astatine Kinross Park and Ride.

Fellow operator Geoff Christie said: "People from the colony that enactment successful Edinburgh, Dundee oregon Perth, they tin get to their enactment by 09:00.

"We've listened to the villagers and we've enactment that work on.

"Kinross is besides truly atrocious for taxis, truthful we're providing different work that get radical backward and guardant - it's provided a societal constituent to a tiny village."

Funding for the work comes mostly from Perth and Kinross Council, with further backers including the Smarter Choices Smarter Places foundation fund.

Douglas Fraser, treasurer assemblage autobus group: "We besides liaised with Glasgow Community Transport who person been a large assistance to america arsenic well.

"It is simply a daunting prospect, but if you've got a radical of radical who are dedicated and tin spot the payment successful the agelong run, it's good worthy doing."

In summation to the 55 service, 15 unpaid drivers run the assemblage autobus that takes section radical to societal events and outings.

Douglas said: "That's huge, fixed we lone started 9 months ago. We've got a batch of enthusiastic people."

Drew Smart said the radical present had ambitions to grow its service.

He said: "We bash a truly bully work down to Kinross, and we could truly payment successful the colony from having a akin work to Perth.

"The Perth work during the time is precise limited, we could marque beingness a batch easier for radical by extending the work successful the other direction."

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: "We are pleased that by supporting Glenfarg Community Transport Group, it has empowered them to run community-led nationalist transport solutions successful their area.

"The success, to date, of their Service 55 and different nationalist transport offers, has highlighted the captious relation that Community Transport fulfils successful delivering a sustainable transport alternate to the car."