'Campaigners fight on' says Courier
04, 12 25 23:55
The Courier reported how StARLink campaigners were continuing to fight, despite the inexplicable decision of Transport Scotland to reject the findings of the appraisal in favour of some kind of enhanced bus service.
The kind of bus service that would be needed, campaigners said, would be a dedicated service between St Andrews and Leuchars station, timed to meet every train and wait for late-running services. The vehicles would need much more luggage space than can be found in the present St Andrews-Dundee buses, suggesting that the operator would need to procure new vehicles. There is also the question of whether extra buses running along this corridor would be able to keep to the schedule and avoid 'bunching up' during periods of heavy traffic and whether any expansion of the already very busy bus station would be required to accommodate them. And after all, all the evidence suggests that car-drivers are very reluctant to switch to a bus in the first place, as happened during the Virtual Branch Line initiative in 2009, whereas a rail service is much more likely to bring about the desired modal shift.
The kind of bus service that would be needed, campaigners said, would be a dedicated service between St Andrews and Leuchars station, timed to meet every train and wait for late-running services. The vehicles would need much more luggage space than can be found in the present St Andrews-Dundee buses, suggesting that the operator would need to procure new vehicles. There is also the question of whether extra buses running along this corridor would be able to keep to the schedule and avoid 'bunching up' during periods of heavy traffic and whether any expansion of the already very busy bus station would be required to accommodate them. And after all, all the evidence suggests that car-drivers are very reluctant to switch to a bus in the first place, as happened during the Virtual Branch Line initiative in 2009, whereas a rail service is much more likely to bring about the desired modal shift.