A NUMBER of Lothian Buses services could be axed as fuel costs make it harder to balance books.
The soaring price of diesel, a wider economic slowdown and tram roadworks have severely dented passenger numbers and profit levels at the council-backed bus firm in the last six months.
A review of all services has now been ordered, with a number
of loss-making routes set to be stopped as the company feels the effects of the credit crunch.
The extent of the cuts is not yet clear, but it is expected the review will be completed in weeks.
Favourites for the axe are services which rely on both council subsidies and support from the more profitable routes.
In March, Lothian Buses revealed it was facing a £4 million shortfall because of increases in tax and fuel costs, as well as a Scottish Government freeze on a rebate to transport operators used to cover rises in fuel duty.
The firm responded in April by putting the cost of an adult single up from £1 to £1.10, but it now appears that was not enough.
Council chiefs today said they are in talks with Lothian Buses on ways to mitigate the impact of the service cuts but added that the local authority – which has a 91 per cent stake in the company – was powerless to intervene because the bus firm has commercial autonomy.
A number of under-threat Lothian Buses services have been saved this last year thanks to local campaigns and council subsidies.
Colinton and Fairmilehead Tory councillor Jason Rust fears one of the first routes lost would be the No.18 Sunday service from The Gyle to the ERI
Cllr Rust helped gather close to 3000 signatures in a petition to save the service after the council cut its subsidy, persuading the administration to give the service a six-month reprieve at the cost of £12,000.
He said: "My constituents will be extremely angry that we fought so hard, and effectively won the argument, only for service cuts to come back on the table again.
"There will be concern across the city, and it is up to the council to stand up for the people of Edinburgh by asking Alistair Darling to review the taxes on fuel duty in the current climate."
Passengers made a record 114m trips on Lothian Buses last year. It was the ninth year in a row the bus firm has seen passenger numbers rise, which the company put down to more frequent services on its most popular routes.
A spokesman for Transport Edinburgh Limited, Lothian Buses' parent company, said: "We run the business on the basis that profitable services help to support the less profitable services.
"We need to manage the balance between the two and when the profitability is down we have two options, increase the fares or reduce the number of loss-making services which we cross.
"It is a matter of record that we have already been forced into an unscheduled fares increase so we are currently conducting a review of our services."
Councillor Phil Wheeler, the city's transport leader, said: "The revision of any services is a commercial decision by Lothian Buses, who operate autonomously from the council and they are obviously reacting to the current market situation and rising fuel prices. There will be ongoing discussions to see how we can mitigate this situation."
The full article contains 578 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
