Changes to bus services at Kirkwall Travel Centre

Changes are being made to the bus stances at Kirkwall Travel Centre to allow for the introduction of a new charging point for the county’s electric bus.

Stance five will now be used for charging the electric bus. Buses previously leaving from stance five, will now depart from stance four.

From February 6, the services affected will be the number six to Tingwall, seven to Birsay and eight to Skara Brae. The airport bus will continue to depart from stance four.

Orkney Islands Council said the introduction of a charging point at the travel centre will allow more flexibility in the electric bus service. When fully charged, the bus has a range of around 70 miles and currently makes five round trips on the 12-mile airport route before returning to base for a charge-up.

According to the council, the new charging point will allow the vehicle to be fully re-charged in two-and-a-half hours.

The Council’s Head of Transport and Infrastructure, Brian Archibald, said: “Our electric vehicles are a great demonstration of the Council’s commitment to reducing consumption of fossil fuels by making use of something Orkney has in abundance – locally-generated renewable energy.”

“The feedback from the public on the experience of using the bus has been excellent and we’re pleased to be able to improve on the service further.”