Bus travel in Kilmarnock is getting easier and more comfortable, thanks to a £4.4m refurbishment of the town’s bus station – the culmination of years of work by East Ayrshire Council and its partners.
Back in 2018, members of the public were invited to an engagement event as part of an extensive consultation and feasibility study to plan an ambitious redevelopment of Kilmarnock Bus Station.
The station, which had last been refurbished in 2000, was tired, with a lack of basic facilities such as sensory aids and real time passenger information, and a waiting room and ticket office which were no longer fit for purpose.
Today, as the project, which was funded by Strathclye Partnership for Transport comes to an end, travellers in the town are starting to appreciate the changes in this important gateway to the town cente.
The newly refurbished station now features a vastly improved and enlarged circulation space complete with extra seating and weather protection screening.
To help passengers stay up to date with their journey times, two real time electronic timetable displays keep them up to speed with up to the minute information and individual real time displays at each stance.
At the same time the whole station has been given a lift with all hard surfaces replaced with brighter, cleaner materials and improved cctv and lighting.
In a first for Scottish bus stations it now boasts a changing places disabled toilet, linked with newly revamped Shopmobility facilities.
Together with a brand new public address system, incorporating audio aids for people with hearing and visual impairments, these improvements will make life a whole lot easier for those with disabilities to travel and visit the town centre independently.
Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of East Ayrshire Council welcomed the impending completion of the project saying:
“We’re very happy to see this project coming to fruition. It’s been a long haul since we first looked at making improvements, not helped by the liquidation of the first contractor we appointed, coupled with the Covid-19 lockdown and the rocketing cost of building materials and supply chain issues post Brexit.
“Our aim is always to use partnership working to achieve the best possible outcomes for our residents and businesses and this project has been no exception. We’ve worked closely with SPT and Stagecoach and carried out extensive consultations with public and community planning partners.
“I’m sure passengers will agree that the work has delivered a bigger, brighter, more welcoming station which is fit for purpose and will make the whole travel experience easier and safer. As we move towards our net zero targets it’s good to see the installation of a pantograph at stance 10 which will be used to charge EV buses. Stagecoach also has plans to install more chargers at the other stances and these have been designed to accommodate this as more EV buses come on stream.
“I hope that with the advent of both this and the revamped Cumnock Bus Station more people will be tempted to leave the car at home and realise how relaxing, comfortable and easy modern bus travel can be.”
