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Bus network developments in the Carse Dundee and Angus

16 Jan 2025


  • Service 16 will be reinstated from late March
  • Confirmed changes follow feedback from customers, local authorities and staff
  • Further improvements announced for Arbroath town
  • New electric vehicles coming soon to Dundee and Angus 

 

Stagecoach have confirmed service revisions in the Carse of Gowrie, Dundee and Angus areas in response to community feedback, planned to take place from late March.

The service changes will see the previous service 16 in the Carse reinstated, replacing the current service 39. This service will run hourly between Dundee, Ninewells, Invergowrie, Longforgan, Inchture, Grange, Errol, St Madoes and Perth city centre, restoring the frequency for Errol and Grange to hourly and ensuring suitable connections within Perth city centre to PRI on services 1 and 2.  The service will also operate from Stagecoach’s Perth depot, to reduce the impact of traffic congestion caused at the moment when travelling through Dundee to Arbroath and vice versa.

The new service will not serve Glendoick, however service 51 connects this area to Perth city centre and PRI and with several inter-city coach services from other operators already using a number of stops along the A90 corridor between Perth and Dundee, Stagecoach have raised the potential need for additional stopping points with Perth & Kinross Council for consideration.

The company have revealed plans to revise Arbroath town services too, offering more connection opportunities across the town to key retail areas and developments.  The changes aim to introduce links to Warddykes, Kirkton, Westway Retail Park and Arbroath Infirmary, speeding up existing journeys, and creating new journey opportunities between Arbroath and Stracathro Hospital. 

Using feedback from customers and staff, Stagecoach also plan to revise the timings of local services in the Arbroath and Montrose areas to better match the traffic conditions being experienced in this area, ensuring services can be more punctual and reliable for customers.

Adjustments to routes between Arbroath and Ninewells Hospital have also been announced, highlighting clear and simple services to the Hospital, with revised numbering within a family of Tayway routes - 72, 73 and 74.  Each of these services will run between Arbroath and Ninewells, with varying routes to connect Carnoustie, Easthaven, Barry, Monifieth, Broughty Ferry and Ethiebeaton to Dundee city centre and the hospital.

Commenting on the changes planned for the area, Douglas Robertson, Managing Director, Stagecoach East Scotland said: “Our proposals to adjust the service provision in the Carse, Dundee and Angus are largely in response to the community and staff feedback we have received since the timetable changes of 13th May 2024 in these areas and from our own service monitoring and driver feedback.

“We operate 99% of our scheduled mileage, but we have recognised punctuality issues on parts of our network and are therefore planning various adjustments to services and timings to improve punctuality.  Services crossing Dundee have been plagued with roadworks and delays recently and we’re hopeful that the changes planned will limit the impact of this going forward.

“Customer and driver feedback on our services is so important to us to identify where we have timing issues, and we’ve worked hard to incorporate all the feedback we’ve received in this regard. We are constantly monitoring the punctuality and performance of our network, evaluating the impact of roadworks, road conditions and congestion on our services.  For example, we’ll be reviewing how or if the new pavement parking ban may present additional challenges for our buses in some areas”

Stagecoach have also announced the investment in a fleet of new double deck buses to operate on the new Tayway services from the spring.  Sixteen fully electric Alexander Dennis Enviro 400EV double deck and six new Volvo BZL single decker electric vehicles will join the Stagecoach fleet with the company preparing to electrify the Arbroath depot and Dundee bus station to accommodate EV charging at both sites.

Mr Robertson added: “We’re confident that the new fleet will improve service reliability when they arrive, but in the meantime, we’ve also replaced most of the existing double deck buses with newer versions. These are already having a positive impact on reliability and should improve our service levels until these network changes take place in March and we introduce the brand-new fleet a few months later.”