STAGECOACH are set to switch to a new timetable for their number 11 buses.

The regular number 11 bus service, which operates between Ardrossan, Kilwinning, Irvine and Kilmarnock, will swap to a new timetable on November 5. This will reduce the service to every 10 minutes from its previous promise of every 7/8 minutes.

Buses will run every 10 minutes u n til 7pm week days and Saturdays. On Sundays they will run every 15 minutes and until 5pm when they switch to every 30 minutes until 10pm.

Following the news, North Ayrshire Labour are calling for radical reforms of our bus market.

Labour councillor Robert Foster said: “A reduction of up to 30 per cent in the frequency of the Number 11, the most profitable bus route in Ayrshire, is yet another sign of a broken bus market that is failing to deliver for local communities.

“North Ayrshire Labour have set out ambitions for a Municipal Bus Service, a not-for-profit model run by North Ayrshire Council which would allow bus services to be shaped based on community need rather than shareholder returns.

However, the current drafting of the Scottish Government’s Transport Bill would make the ambition almost impossible – only allowing councils to run services that private bus companies don’t want to run.”

Labour say the SNP’s Bill will leave bus profits in the hands of private shareholders whilst leaving the public purse to pick up the loss making scraps.

“Recent years saw a whole host of local bus services in North Ayrshire cut by Stagecoach in their thirst to deliver financial profits to their private shareholders. These cuts are not without impact, with many vulnerable people now more socially isolated than ever before.

“Now it appears that even the most profitable route aren’t safe from their cuts. “North Ayrshire Labour has ambitions for a better way. A Municipal Bus service, run in the interests of people not profit.”

Sam Greer, Stagecoach West Scotland Managing Director said:  "There are many factors that impact the local bus network and any decisions to make changes to routes - these factors are not always fully understood by those who are not involved in the practical delivery of local bus operations.

"The changes we are making to Service 11 are designed to reflect changing passenger demand and to improve reliability.

"Unfortunately the route continues to be impacted by short notice roadworks and road closures and we are taking this action to make sure our customers have greater certainty around when their bus will arrive.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that we can deliver a stable local bus network over the longer term and this change should help us do that.

"The £6.5million investment we made in new vehicles for the route this year shows our on going commitment to the communities that we serve.”