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Home , Applecross, Bettyhill, Durness, Far North Line, Gairloch, Helmsdale

by Public Transport Michael & Jenny Willmot An account of a journey undertaken in September 2019 [email protected] with recommendations for improvements & developments

1. Introduction 2. Slow Tourism 3. Travel Planning 4. The Journey 5. Observations 6. Recommendations Appendix Distances, Details and Fares for our version of Public Transport North Coast 500 Cartoon (commissioned for this project) by Nigel www.nigelsutherland.co.uk

1. Introduction The North Coast 500 (www.northcoast500.com) has been a marketing success. Some say almost too successful when traffic on narrow roads is slowed by a procession of camper vans or made hazardous by those who are eager to ‘shoot the route’ at dangerous speeds.

Whereas private vehicles insulate travellers from those who live in the landscape, using public transport offers the opportunity to absorb the culture and heritage of the area through meeting local residents.

Public transport is also environmentally friendly with reduced CO2 emission per passenger-mile gained not only in not driving round the route but also, for many, in avoiding the added miles of driving north from their starting point to . Furthermore, rural transport services are supported since the more these carry tourists, the more likely they are to be maintained or even strengthened, benefitting local residents.

Public transport is just one example of rural services under threat: banks, shops, pubs and cafés in small communities are all at risk. Their demise in turn can aggravate the decline in rural population, very evident in the North Highlands1. Of necessity travelling light, all our provisions and accommodation were purchased en route, assisting local traders and rural communities.

We undertook the travel described here between Friday September 13th and Saturday September 21st 2019.

2. Slow Tourism Travel by public transport is a style of slow tourism which takes into account local communities, making the travel a social part of the journey through providing opportunities for contact with residents and, at

1 Figures in Council’s current corporate plan forecast dramatic declines between now and 2041 in (-21%), Sutherland (-11.9%) East Ross (-13.8%) and (-5.9%)

1 the same time, giving opportunity both to enjoy the views on many scenic routes and also to be active in selecting what to see and do. It is also about climate change: reducing the travellers’ carbon footprint by avoiding rushing from one place to another, often in low occupancy vehicles.

For us, the real incentive for attempting this style of travel, feelings of environmental or social virtue apart, was through meeting people and catching glimpses of community life as we travelled. We spoke to those who tussled with the limited public transport daily. We heard about the car share schemes and the dial-a-bus arrangements available to a few. We learnt from one resident of his impending and sad move to Inverness because the local secondary school could not provide good Scottish Highers provision for his daughter due to the small class size. We fell into conversations at a bus stop with another looking forward to her day out with a friend in – a monthly highlight. We heard of worries about declining wild salmon stocks; anxieties about land management; difficulties with rising deer numbers; concerns about human waste discharges by camper vans in lay-bys. We learnt of people’s love for, apprehensions about, and pride in, the local landscape.

On our travels we could see how these rural bus services were a lifeline to non car owners in remote areas. The community service that Bus provides in the far north west is outstanding, delivering passengers of limited mobility to their front doors, often with the driver helping to take bags and shopping over the threshold. But these services are infrequent. How appropriate it would be if tourists and visitors enjoying the spectacular scenery, the heritage of the local communities, could at the same time support these communities’ lifelines.

Durness: where the wind blows strong; an inventive method is needed for displaying the bus stop sign! 3. Travel Planning Public transport in the North West Highlands is scarce. Many services run only on alternate days or once or twice a week, so some flexibility in travel dates has to be accepted. Subsidised bus fares are cheap but bus and train times are often not co-ordinated. Planning travel to enable visits to sites of interest requires time and patient timetable research. The most useful planning tool was Traveline [www.travelinescotland.com], commendable for the accuracy of its information.

2 The most transport restricted part of the journey is along the North Coast where there is only one bus a week – on Saturdays – between and Durness. Also there is one section between and Inchnadamph (or ), 18 miles, where there is no public transport available.

4. The Journey Details of our journey are given in the appendix on pages 8 & 19

In the face of scepticism about whether this public transport journey was achievable, we resolved to tackle it. In outline we explored the east coast by using the between Inverness and Wick & Thurso; although the X99 bus service provides alternative transport on this section – hugging the coast more closely north of . Here the railway line strikes inland and provides the opportunity to visit the lonely, spectacular Caithness Flow Country and the RSPB reserve at , not so easily accessible by road.

On the Far North Line, the Wick & Thurso bound train passes Loch an Ruthair and Creag Sail a Bhathaich, south of Forsinard

As already mentioned, the north coast section has the most restricted public transport with a Saturday only service between Thurso and Durness (the service runs between Thurso and Tongue on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Travel planning has to revolve around the timetable of this service (Durness Bus service 803). How sad that postbus alternatives are no longer available.

Down the west coast between Durness and bus services run several times/week. Lochinver with Sulven behind 3 However there are timetable variations depending on whether it is school term time. Also there is a serious gap on the 18 miles between Scourie and Inchnadamph (or Lochinver) where there is no public transport (the best advice Traveline can offer is a 7 hour, 150 mile, journey via , and !). Since we had an onward service to catch we had to use a taxi for this section.

South of Ullapool we were keen to spend an afternoon at Inverewe gardens. We caught the Citylink bus to Braemore Junction and hitch hiked from there. Public transport was available for this section but we would have had to wait until the 18.10 Ullapool departure.

We could have dwelt longer in , perhaps visiting and/or , and followed the NC500 route more closely by taking the Kyle line back to Inverness. We chose rather to extend our journey by crossing on to Skye, visiting Broadford and the gardens at Armadale and catching the ferry to Mallaig, thence the to Fort William and, after a stay, the Citylink bus to Inverness. Not the NC500 route, but there are other options that can take the public transport traveller away from the designated route; some are mentioned in the appendix.

5. Observations 1. Ticket prices for each leg of the journeys are noted in the appendix. Rail and Citylink fares quoted are for advance purchase tickets. In the case of rail fares, the walk-on price is almost double the advance purchase price. Mobile phone apps make the purchase of advance tickets easier although phone connection in the North Highlands remains patchy on some networks.

Across our journey the average price/person/mile Rail Citylink Local bus services 15.2 p/mile 25.5p/mile 19.1p/mile

The most expensive mileage rate was for the 11 miles between Ullapool and Braemore junction, A single ticket £7 on Citylink, working out at 64p/mile. For two of us a taxi might have been cheaper! The best value was Durness Bus between Thurso and Durness, 71 miles for £10.30 ~ 14.5p/mile. Advance purchase rail fares were good value (and even better for us, travelling with Senior Citizen railcards).

2. The ScotRail timetable does advertise the following:

4 However, checks are needed before travel as for most of these services there is no co-ordination of bus and train times and some services do not exist on many days. For example, the first entry in the table, the Arday – Scourie service: Durness Bus 805, runs on Saturdays only, departing at 16.55 (both north & southbound trains arrive at 15.30). No public transport is available on other days.

In the above table it is not made clear that the Forsinard – & Dial-a-Bus service is only available for residents2.

3. The lack of co-ordination of train and bus times is unfortunate. Examples on the East Coast:

NORTHBOUND X99 bus Train SOUTHBOUND X99 bus Train

Inverness 13.40 14.00 Wick 06.20 06.18 15.45 16.10 Helmsdale 08.11 08.00 Helmsdale 16.10 16.36 Golspie 08.36 08.25 Thurso 17.55 17.50 Inverness 10.04 10.35

There are four trains and three buses in each direction each day, so ideally you might hope for a service every two hours if uniformly distributed, in fact there are gaps of up to 3½ hours.

An opportunity for train-bus-ferry co-ordination occurs at Thurso for the NorthLink ferry. This was once effective, but now no attempt is made. This is acknowledged in the ScotRail timetable “Customers holding Rail & Sail tickets to / from should note that a connecting taxi service between Thurso Railway Station and is included. Taxis can be booked by calling 01847 893 434 as soon as possible after ticket purchase, but no later than Helmsdale on northbound journeys and prior to departing Stromness on southbound journeys. Staff will assist if you do not have a mobile phone. Taxis are also available for hire by other passengers. Normal fares will apply.”

In full (weekday peak times shown)

NORTHBOUND SOUTHBOUND Thurso train 10.59 17.50 Scrabster ferry 08.00 12.30 arrival arrival Bus link dep 11.02 No bus No bus No bus arr 11.12 connection connection connection (too tight for comfort Both are tight connections but & includes 6 min walk possible by taxi if ferry on time Scrabster ferry 13.15 19.00 Thurso train 08.34 13.06 departure (12.00 on Sat departure & Sun)

In similar vein, the timing of the once a week Thurso to Durness 803 bus is unfortunate as it passes Thurso station at around 14.26, the rail service arriving at 14.24, too tight for an interconnection.

2 See for example the Ormlie Taxis Dial-a-bus operation in the Melvich & Bettyhill, area which by prior arrangement can meet trains at Thurso http://www.ormlietaxis.com/148182_T12_North_Sutherland.pdf . The ScotRail timetable claims it will also meet trains at Forsinard but this service is only available for residents

5 4. However there is a good connection at Lairg where the Durness 806 bus service to and Durness departs Lairg, Mon – Fri at 12.25, co-ordinating with the northbound train arrival at 12.21. But if arriving on the bus to travel south on the train there is an almost three hour wait until 15.12.

5. The recent introduction of new buses on the X99 route between Inverness and Wick/Thurso are more difficult to board by people with restricted mobility. We heard several complaints from local people that they feel unable to use these buses if travelling unescorted because of these access difficulties.

6. On this trip we chose to walk between our transport links and to explore the area. Baggage carrying folding bikes which can be carried by both bus and train are another option. Helmsdale Station CIC has formed a partnership with Sam’s Bike Shed3 of Golspie to make these available for hire.

7. There is a growing interest in slow tourism and we have embarked on this project in consultation with the John Muir Trust4. Sandwood Bay; Quinag, the three peak mountain in ; and Ben Nevis are sites in their care. Developing measures to enable non-car travellers to visit these sites could be developed.

6. Recommendations 1. We hope North Coast 500 might include a website tab for, or other link to, information about travelling the North Coast 500 using public transport. We recognise this travel choice is not for all, but we hope this report has highlighted both benefits and possibilities of this transport style. This publicity would work most effectively if combined with the next recommendation.

2. Planning such a journey is time consuming when starting with near zero knowledge of local transport. There might be a small business opportunity for someone, briefed about the interests, preferences and time availability of the intending traveller, who then plans the journey, and maybe the accommodation for an agreed charge. For example, this is a service provided by The Swiss Holiday Company for independent travellers travelling by train around Switzerland. See: https://www.swissholidayco.com/More-Information/Tailor-made-service

3. There should greater attempts at co-ordinating bus and train times where both operate over the same route or where there is opportunity for interchange. This could benefit passengers and operators alike.

4. A combined ticketing scheme for bus and train across the NC500 region would be ideal and could do much to promote the concept, but it is recognised that there are difficulties in ensuring every operator receives an appropriate apportionment. This does work for the PlusBus scheme and it is noted that that there are other such schemes promoted by ScotRail further south5.

5. Some community transport organisations are licenced to carry members of the public. Since it is not unreasonable to expect tourists to pay commercial rates for their travel, this could be an income generating activity if publicised. Like bus timetabling, the community transport organisation would need to advertise times at which this were available to ‘funnel’ tourists into fitting in with their schedule and maximising seat occupancy.

3 https://www.facebook.com/SamsBikeShed/ 4 https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/latest/news/1764-field-notes-travelling-the-north-coast-500-by-public-transport 5 There are two main options for travel across Scotland: PLUSBUS, a bus pass to go along with your train ticket; and RailBus, which gives you a single ticket to a specific destination. You can also discover The Borders via rail and bus with our Borders Explorer, or get the most out of and Glasgow with our Rail and City Bus tour tickets.

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6. Some Dial-a-Bus schemes are available only for residents. Could these be made available for tourists at a less subsidised rate?

7. In 2003 there were 220 postbus services serving remote locations in the UK. By 2009 this was reduced to five routes in the (-Achnasheen, Applecross-Torridon, Torridon-Strathcarron, Thurso-Tongue and Bettyhill-Thurso). The last Scottish postbus ran in 2016 between Tongue and Lairg. Press reports leave unclear why these services ended6. European countries which continue to operate rural postbuses are Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Could growing environmental and climate change concerns enable a re- introduction of the scheme on the remotest routes?

8. If there is a refusal by the Royal Mail to reintroduce postbuses there are now regular deliveries on fixed days in the week to some small settlements in the NC500 area by supermarkets such as Asda and . Often these operate a ‘book-a-slot’ service – restricted times to fit in with other deliveries in the area, so with an appropriate passenger carrying vehicle it would need only a small extension of the scheme to enable a fare paying passenger booking on a delivery round.

9. We came across two private hire ‘taxi’ Uber businesses, one had recently gone, and the other was about to go, out of business. These Uber currently operates only in major cities in the UK, but its could have been useful adjuncts to the limited reach is spreading. Traditional taxi and private hire operators bus services. Both admitted it was the cost of often complain about Uber, claiming they have an unfair licence compliance which made business no advantage in avoiding some fees and standards conventional longer profitable. private hire car (PHC) drivers are expected to observe. requirement for private hire is a vehicle not Currently it seems unclear whether such schemes will extend more than five years for which an inspection to rural areas and if so, whether they would contribute additional to the MOT is required, £114; an positively or negatively to rural transport provision. operator’s licence, £422; and a driver’s licence, £272 (both run for three years). Total cost £800 before the additional premium of private hire insurance. Could there be reduced charges for remote area operation covering limited annual private hire mileage, where such vehicles can be of considerable community benefit? See the Uber issue in box.

10. If NC500 generates funds through selling merchandise and other activities, giving grants towards public transport subsidies for improved services around the route would seem an appropriate way of recompensing communities which suffer the inconvenience of the tourist traffic the NC500 concept has generated.

11. We suggest a meeting of the North Highland Initiative with transport operators, tourist organisations, those interested in advertising and promoting this scheme together with any other interested parties to explore whether any of the above recommendations could be adopted.

With grateful acknowledgement to our sponsor and supporters

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6 “The decision to cease the service, operated by us [Royal Mail], was taken by Highland Council, the transport provider, which has informed us that their budget will not cover any increase to the current fee.” But a Highland Council spokeswoman said: “It is not correct that we decided to cease the Postbus service – it was Royal Mail’s decision. The council has a limited budget which it might use to support a transport service on this route, and is currently assessing the level of need to design a replacement service.”

7 Appendix Distances, Details and Fares for our version of Public Transport North Coast 500

No miles £

Inverness 10.41 Fri 13th ScotRail 101 £10.80 Helmsdale 13.12 Helmsdale 09.47 ScotRail 50 £9.20 Thurso 10.59 The 13.12 departure from Helmsdale arrives Thurso 14.24, The Durness bus passes the station at 14.26. No attempt at interconnection Sat 14 Wick Possible to spend some visiting Wick and arriving in Thurso in 11.31 12.34 time for bus Thurso 13.02 14.25 Durness Bus 803 71 £10.30 Durness 16.45 Sat only Durness – Ferry via 2.9 miles, direct 2.4 miles Cape Wrath Ferry 09.30 3 Sun 15

James Mather, Cape Wrath Mini Bus Operator, Mob: 07742 670 196 (Weather too rough for Cape Wrath ferry) Durness PO 08.05 Durness 806 25 £5.10 Scourie 09.20 09.20 Bus No public transport available on this 18 mile section 18 Lochinver 12.22 809 24 Mon 16 Inchnadamph (alternative bus stop to Lochinver) 12.42 Rapsons £5.70 Ullapool 13.20 13.20

Lochinver 12.42 Durness Bus 12.42 Ewens of Ullapool 13.39 School holiday only 08/07 – 17/08/19 13.39 Ullapool Tue 17 Day in Ullapool exploring local area Ullapool Ferry Terminal 09.50 Citylink 961 11 £7.00 Braemore junction 10.08 We chose to hitchhike this section rather than wait for the evening 22 bus. Taxi would have cost £90 (Inverewe Gardesn- ~ 0.9 m) Poolewe PO 19.45 Westerbus 700 5 £1.90 Wed 18 Gairloch 19.58

Ullapool (journey not taken as we hitch hiked earlier in the day) 18.10 Braemore Junction 18.33 18.40 Poolewe arrive 20.00

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Gairloch strath square 08.10 Westerbus 700 30 £5.60 Achnasheen 09.13 10.18 ScotRail 36 £7.30 Kyle of 11.30 Thu 19 Kyle slipway 15.00 Stagecoach 9 £3.50 Broadford 15.22

Broadford opp PO 09.48 Stagecoach 52 22 £4.10 Armadale 10.13 Fri 20 Mallaig 16.05 ScotRail 42 £7.40 Fort William 17.28

Fort William 10.30 Sat 21 Citylink 919 66 £12.60 Inverness 12.35

535 £90.50

On Thu 19 above, there was an option to take the 10.18 departure from Achnasheen as we did, but to alight at Strathcarron to journey on to and Torridon, returning Friday.

Strathcarron 10.47 10.50 DMK 702 Thur Shieldaig 11.35 13.35 Motors Torridon (but beware! Nor return service from Torridon is listed! 13.50 Shieldaig 11.40 DMK 702 Fri Strathcarron 12.25 Motors

There is a twice a week bus service from Achnasheen to Applecross running on Wednesday and Saturday Achnasheen 16.10 704 Applecross 18.15 Garage Applecross Wed 08.30 departs 30 mins later on Saturday but same arrival time Sat 08.00 Achnasheen Wed 10.15

The above fares are for a single adult and advance purchase prices for ScotRail and Citylink. Walk on fares may be more.

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