UK post bus replacements cost more

Replacing five axed post bus services with taxis and increased public transport is proving costly, council officials in the UK have warned.

Replacing five axed post bus services with taxis and increased public transport is proving costly, council officials in the UK have warned.

Highland Council in Scotland would have provided a £35,300 subsidy to the Royal Mail post bus routes. Instead, interim measures to ensure the communities affected still have access to public transport could run to an estimated cost of more than £87,000.

Councillors will be told it could put pressure on their transport budget. They will meet on 28 May to study a report into the issue.

Post buses were withdrawn from Diabaig-Achnasheen, Applecross-Torridon and Torridon-Strathcarron in Wester Ross. Far north routes of Thurso-Tongue and Bettyhill-Thurso were also stopped.

Highland Council has put in place interim arrangements to replace the services. They include subsidised taxi services and more public buses.

In a report to TEC services committee, council officials recommend that councillors make further representations to Royal Mail to reinstate the post buses. The officers said it was not surprising that laying on services instead of subsidising Royal Mail was more expensive, as the local authority bearing the whole cost of the operation.

Councillors and local MSPs have had a series of meetings and discussions with Royal Mail about restoring the services. Earlier in May, Royal Mail’s bid to increase business through mail orders and online shopping was suggested as a way of restarting post bus services. Jamie Stone, Lib Dem MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, hosted a meeting between Highland Council and the company. He said vehicles making online shopping deliveries could provide a bus service.