Hospital routes change - new link for Airth & Kincardine

Changes to bus services serving the Forth Valley Royal Hospital will take effect from Monday August 20th, and will see the hospital linked to Kincardine & Airth.  The new H5 service operating on Mondays to Fridays will be introduced

between Airth/ Kincardine – Stenhouse Road – Stenhousemuir Shopping Centre – Larbert Rail Station

– Forth Valley Royal Hospital partially replacing service H3a:

The service will operate every 30 minutes during morning and afternoon peak periods between

Stenhousemuir Shopping Centre – Larbert Rail Station – Forth Valley Royal Hospital maintaining a

15 minute frequency service at these times between Forth Valley Royal Hospital and Larbert Rail

Station

During the daytime the service will operate every 2 hours between Kincardine – Airth – Stenhouse

Road – Stenhousemuir Shopping Centre – Larbert Rail Station – Forth Valley Royal Hospital

One peak period journey will operate in each direction between Airth – Kincardine – Stenhouse

Road – Stenhousemuir Shopping Centre – Larbert Rail Station – Forth Valley Royal Hospital

Additionally a couple of early morning  and evening H1/H2 services will be diverted to operate via Kincardine 

Rail elecrification postponed

Network Rail and the Scottish Government have revised their plans to electrify the Central Scotland rail network, which was due to be completed in 2016. 

Accounting for the cut in the budget, is the cancellation of the electrification of the Alloa & Dunblane lines, and presumably, the controversial marshalling yard near Stirling.

School bus checks reveal shocking conditions

Nine buses were detected by police to have mechanical defects so serious they were immediately put off the road.

The discovery was made during a five-day operation with officers from Central Scotland Police’s Road Policing Unit and members of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling.
Sergeant Bob Murphy, of the force’s Collision Prevention Unit, said: “The buses were checked  while pupils were inside the safari park and those with the serious defects were immediately taken off the road. The operators then had to find an alternative buses to collect the pupils once their visit was over.”
The most serious defect was an emergency door which could not be secured shut.
Sergeant Murphy said: “The door was basically filling the hole. If somebody had leaned against it they could have fallen out and the consequences do not bear thinking about.
Braking defects, a faulty exhaust, oil leaks and a broken seat belt were among the other defects found.
Fifteen drivers were found to be working in excess of their hours or unable to prove the hours they had worked and were not allowed to resume driving until they had had a sufficient rest period.
Sergeant Murphy said: “Bus companies are given the responsibility of safely taking pupils to and from school and on school outings. It is extremely worrying that nine buses were so defective they had to be removed from the road with immediate effect.
“We want to reassure parents that we will do everything we can, along with VOSA, to make sure their children are traveling on buses that are completely roadworthy. We will continue to address this.”
Road Policing Officers also carried out checks on buses transporting pupils to local high schools. Six were found to have minor defects and were given time to have repairs carried out.
The checks were carried out between Monday June 18 and Friday June 22.