Halkirk bus services to Inverness saved
BUS passengers in Halkirk will still have a service travelling to Inverness after Stagecoach axed plans to remove all southbound buses from the village.
The bus operator is introducing a new X82 service which will travel from Thurso and Halkirk to Dunbeath, where passengers will transfer on to other buses before heading down to Inverness.
The bus firm said it was stopping all X99 services from travelling through Halkirk and instead driving from Thurso to Castletown and Wick before heading straight to Inverness without passengers having to transfer at Dunbeath.
The original proposals resulted in an angry response from customers living in the Halkirk area at a public meeting organised by the Caithness Bus Users’ Group in Wick in November.
Stagecoach have introduced the new X82 service which will travel from Thurso to Halkirk and Dunbeath to go down to Inverness as of Monday, January 9.
As part of the new X82 service, two buses will be available every morning. The first will leave Olrig Street in Thurso at 7:20am, arrive in Halkirk at 7:30am and travel to Dunbeath at 8:04am where passengers will transfer on to the X99 service.
The second service will leave Olrig Street at 8:50am, arrive at Halkirk at 9am and travel to Dunbeath at 9:34am where passengers will once again transfer on to the X99 service.
In addition an evening service will Olrig Street at 7:10pm, arrive at Halkirk at 7:20pm and Dunbeath at 7:54pm.
All X99 services will operate to a new route with all journeys serving Castletown between Thurso and Wick before continuing south to Dunbeath, Helmsdale, Tain and Inverness.
The X99 services will leave Sir George Street in Thurso at 6:50am, 8:20am and 10:50am.
The alteration to the route will give a direct connection on service X99 for passengers from Castletown and Wick who previously had to connect at Dunbeath to use the service to Inverness.
Stagecoach North Scotland managing director Mark Whitelocks said views received from feedback as part of the public consultation has lead to the changes in its services.
He said: “Our overall aim is to provide a better, more efficient and more reliable package of services to our customers.
“The changes we are making to our bus network in the Highlands better reflect the travel habits of our customers, providing better connections within Inverness, to Inverness as well as between other towns and villages across the Highlands.
“Introducing the public consultation ahead of the formal registration process has built on the insight we gain when working with various community councils and bus user groups within the Highlands area.”