CRAIG Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, delivered a petition to Lothian Buses calling for the reinstatement of the suspended X5 bus service between North Berwick and Edinburgh on Friday.
Mr Hoy’s petition was made available to sign online and received a total of 1,089 signatures, mostly from those living in the affected communities of Longniddry, Gullane, Aberlady, Dirleton and North Berwick.
The X5 bus was suspended nearly two years ago by Lothian Buses following the introduction of national lockdown restrictions. The service ran through North Berwick, Dirleton, Gullane, Aberlady and Longniddry directly on to Edinburgh via the A1.
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Commuters from the coastal villages of Gullane and Aberlady face an extra hour on to their commute to Edinburgh without the X5 service. For those communities there is no alternative direct public transport link into the city other than the longer 124 bus service which stops at Prestonpans, Wallyford, Musselburgh and Portobello.
Delivering the petition to Lothian Buses’ headquarters in Edinburgh, Mr Hoy said: “After a number of residents living in Dirleton, Gullane, Aberlady and Longniddry reached out to me about the X5 bus, I launched a petition calling for the reinstatement of the service. That petition received a total of 1,089 signatures.
“I have tried to reach out and meet a representative from Lothian Buses for over 5 months now, however my correspondence has been met with copy and pasted lines of text.
“Thus far, the company have refused to acknowledge the petition and the strength of feeling in the community about this issue.
“I recognise that there are challenges across the service, but the refusal to meet with residents and listen to their concerns is a real let down for those who relied on the service.
“Lothian Buses are publicly-owned and they should be more willing to consider residents views on this matter.
“As they have refused to receive my petition in person after repeated requests to meet, I have decided to send the petition directly to them.”
Mr Hoy was joined by Conservative Councillor for North Berwick Coastal Jeremy Findlay, who said: "There is widespread support for the reinstatement of the X5 bus in North Berwick, Dirleton, Gullane and Aberlady - and Craig's petition proves that.
“Residents who I have spoken to from the area are deeply upset about Lothian Buses’ refusal to consider their views, especially as a publicly-owned company.
“I look forward to working with Craig over the coming months to keep pressure on Lothian Buses to bring back the X5.”
