Orkney's public bus services buck the national trend

The number of people using public buses in Orkney continues to grow, bucking the national downward trend.

During the period January to May this year, passenger numbers on public bus services subsidised by the Council were over 7% higher than pre pandemic 2019 levels, which were themselves a record high for the county at almost 185k trips.

Stagecoach have also confirmed growth on the commercial X1 service operating from Stromness, Kirkwall and St Margaret’s Hope.

Passenger figures were up by 55% in January-March this year, compared to the same period in 2022, as bus passenger numbers recovered following the pandemic.

Laura Cromarty is Orkney Islands Council’s Transportation Service Manager: “Increased tourism, the cost of living crisis, in-migration to the county, and the introduction of the Scottish Government’s Under 22 Free Bus Scheme have almost certainly contributed to increased passenger numbers on the bus services we subsidise – as well as our new low emission fleet.

“When bus services have been decimated around Scotland, this growth is both encouraging and definitely helps in terms of securing funding for extras such as the new evening services introduced to East and West Mainland and Kirkwall/Orphir in July 2022, which attracted Scottish Government Smarter Choices Smarter Places funding to run until end of March 2024.

“The other bonus to passenger growth is that any income from ticket sales on public bus services subsidised by the Council are kept by the Council and poured into our Sustainable and Green Transport Fund. We expect that to be to the tune of around £120k this financial year. This money is earmarked for reinvestment in public transport options and infrastructure such as electric buses, new bus shelters, and enhancing public and community transport.”

Chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor David Dawson, said: “Thank you to all our passengers – your support is helping bring about sure and steady improvements for the wider community. We hope to see even more people enjoying our modern low-emission buses to see our sights, visit friends and family, get to work, or enjoy a safe night out.”

There are nine main public bus routes on mainland Orkney and three evening bus services which have been introduced on a trial basis, in addition to the existing X1 evening timetable. The Kirkwall Airport bus route (Number 4) operates every 30 mins during flight times. The Kirkwall town service (Number 9) is hourly between 7:30am and 5:30pm Monday to Saturday, and the X1 commercial service linking St Margarets Hope, Kirkwall and Stromness is also largely an hourly service. Other routes provide a commuter type service and connectivity to inter island ferry services. The X10 service provides evening connectivity to the NorthLink Ferry Service from Hatston which travels out to Stromness each evening. Subsidised public bus services also operate on the islands of Hoy, Sanday and Westray.

You can view the full public bus service timetables on the Council website at www.orkney.gov.uk/bus