Hospital Bus Route To Be Axed

Buses will stop running to Leanchoil Hospital at the end of this month.

The 336 bus currently stops at the facility every hour, transporting people from Forres, Findhorn, Kinloss, Elgin and other parts of Moray.

Operators Stagecoach Bluebird say there are not enough passengers to keep this part of the service going and it will leave the route from Monday, August 29, despite the fact that the hospital has been closed to overnight patients since January.

“We have been closely monitoring our routes across the region for many months and we are making some changes in late August to reflect our findings,” a spokeswoman for the firm said, adding: “Unfortunately our monitoring of these routes, during this and previous network reviews, showed consistently low customer numbers travelling to and from Leanchoil Hospital and as such it is no longer commercially viable to serve this section of the route.”

She also said the review was carried out “on and off around the time of any timetable change” and the last alteration of this kind was in September last year.

The hospital – at the top of St. Leonard’s Road, more than a mile from Forres High Street – has been closed to overnight patients since January 2 when an electrical fault forced an evacuation, though day patients still attend clinics there.

Refurbishment work is currently taking place there to allow it to keep patients in overnight, which NHS Grampian say will be completed by autumn. There has been much speculation that the hospital may be closed but the health board has repeatedly denied this.

As a result of this service change the hospital will only be accessible on foot or by car, bicycle or motorcycle.

The 336 will now operate only between Elgin and Dufftown. It will be replaced locally with a service numbered 332 which will travel from Forres to Kinloss and Findhorn hourly and continue to Elgin every second hour.

The new service won’t stop in the Forbeshill or Mannachie areas of Forres either, or at the Southside estate in Kinloss, all of which are currently served by the 336. However, the 332 will cover more of Grantown Road than the present service.

The buses will run from Monday-Saturday with no Sunday service.

Several people told the ‘Gazette’ they were unhappy with the changes.

Rena Torrance, of Forbeshill, was appalled at the news. She is currently unable to drive after having suffered a stroke and relies on the 336 to take her to town and to clinics.

“How often are people with sore legs like me like me going to walk down to the town,” she asked. “It’s a busy stop (Forbeshill), lots of people get on.”

“I have hardly had anything to do with it (the bus service) because I haven’t been visiting (Leanchoil),” said Phylis Ross of Castlehill, “but I know I always counted on it if I wanted to go and visit someone.”

Ian Young, also of Castlehill, said: “I rarely use it but losing the service is bound to have an effect.”

Two women who asked not to be named were both shocked.

“I don’t think it should be cut,” said one. “When I was using it for my physio it was always full.”

The other commented: “People did use it when it was there.”

Moray Council member for Forres Irene Ogilvie, who is currently running a petition to keep Leanchoil open, said she would be looking for answers from Stagecoach Bluebird to find out if they have taken into account the hospital’s closure to overnight patients.

“I think they are kind of shooting themselves in the foot,” she said. “They are not really helping our cause to keep the hospital open.”

She also said: “I think we need to really look at this.”

Forres Community Council treasurer Stewart Kennedy, who lives in Forbeshill, also criticised the changes. “Forres deserves a proper town service covering Forbeshill, the town centre, Sanquhar, the new estates at Knockomie and, of course, Leanchoil,”

He also said elderly people in Forbeshill would now find it difficult to travel elsewhere in Forres or the rest of Moray. He has complained in the past about the speed and size of buses travelling around the estate but said he never wanted the service stopped altogether.