If you can’t afford a car, or can’t drive, you shouldn’t be trapped in your town. In rural regions like ours, buses and trains are lifelines, and they are also the fastest way to cut our carbon emissions. Public transport is great for connecting people to communities, and it’s good for the environment too.
What’s happening
- Council-run buses are working. Scottish Borders Council now runs almost half of our region’s bus services itself, after taking six more routes in-house in 2025. Passenger numbers on council-run services have climbed sharply.
- Gaps remain in public transport provisions and scheduling.
- Many villages across the Borders have no evening or Sunday service at all.
- In Cardrona, residents answered a survey asking for a bus stop on the X62 route, but many months later they are still waiting to hear the results.
- On weekdays, the last departure of the X62 from Edinburgh to Peebles and Galashiels is scheduled for just after 10.00pm. That’s far too early for Borders residents to spend a night out in the city. Greens MSP Laura Moodie, who represents South Scotland in Holyrood, is pushing for Scottish Government assistance on extending public transport service hours.
- The railway line still stops at Tweedbank. Extending the Borders Railway to Hawick and Carlisle is at the business case stage. It needs to move along so that residents of Hawick and the surrounding area can have rail access to Edinburgh and south of the border.
What Greens have already delivered
Nationally, the Scottish Greens helped to secure free bus travel for everyone under 22 and an end to peak fares on ScotRail.
Our position
- Free buses for everyone. We’ll begin with a £2 fare cap on every route across Scotland, along with extending free bus travel to all under-30s.
- Grow public ownership. Protect and expand the council’s own bus services and fund community transport so no village is cut off.
- A minimum service guarantee for every rural community, ideally scheduling an hourly service in every locality from morning to evening.
- Buses that meet trains. Timetables that connect at Tweedbank and Berwick, as well as one ticket to be used across bus and rail.
- Hawick to Carlisle. We want a construction date on the Borders Railway extension, not more studies, with a new station at Hawick as the first step.
