Call for emergency funding to save axed West Lothian bus services

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A senior Labour councillor has called on the Scottish Government to reinstate emergency funding for bus services in the county.The call comes days after the county's major service supplier McGill's Eastern Scottish announced it was quitting all its routes by December - starting next month with the X22 and X24 Livingston Edinburgh services axed which will be from 15th October.The council reiterated that since deregulation of bus service provision in the 1980s, local authorities have no control over the commercial bus market.McGill's said that despite investing around £4.5 million in Eastern Scottish ongoing losses are simply unsustainable.The firm added: "Too many operators serving too few customers for too long has destabilised the market in West Lothian."And rival operator Lothian Country refused to comment on the situation beyond recognising the disruption that would be caused.West Lothian Council had previously called upon the Scottish Government to reinstate the Covid recovery support for buses and expedite the Fair Fares review promised after the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.Executive councillor for the Environment and Sustainability Tom Conn said: "The council has no authority over the commercial market or operations so powers and legislation handed down by the Government is one thing, but they aren't realistic without the resources to go with them."The Scottish Government removed Covid recovery support for buses on 31st March 2023 despite representations for this to continue from the Confederation of Passenger Transport, amongst others."The Network Support Grant from the Scottish Government has flat-lined at £50m since 2012, despite bus travel accounting for three quarters of all public transport journeys in