Travel giant First Bus have cancelled yet another major city centre route, claiming the service had become ‘unsustainable’.
The number four service from Danestone to the city centre, which is used by patients and visitors to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, ran for the last time on Saturday.
It follows the announcement earlier this month that First Aberdeen will cut the X40 and 11 services from Kingswells by the end of the year.
The firm blamed low passenger numbers and tough north-east economic conditions in the wake of the North Sea oil downturn for the decision.
Despite the cancellations and reduced services across the city, First Aberdeen say they are still committed to their north-east customers.
A spokesman told the Evening Express: “First Aberdeen recently announced a number of service changes, which included new services and improvements, alongside some service withdrawals.
“Our service announcements in August included the introduction of new services eight and nine, connecting Bridge of Don and other areas with ARI and these services will be available to many of the customers who previously used service four, which was withdrawn because of consistently low passenger numbers.
“The decision to withdraw services X40 and 11 because of low passenger numbers has been taken with great reluctance. We took a number of steps to try to increase passenger numbers but these did not have the desired effect.
“This included a consultation with Kingswells residents and simplification of the route in line with the feedback we had received.”
He added: “Running a service with an average of 3.6 passengers per journey on a weekday was not sustainable.
“We are now consulting with Aberdeen City Council on the planned withdrawal and its implications.”
