The X53 was a

bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications o ...

between

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

and

Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

History

The route was introduced on 14 September 2020 as a partial replacement of the withdrawn 23 Stirling–St Andrews route operated by Stagecoach. In November 2021,

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

announced that the route would be suspended in January unless more drivers became available to operate it. In early December, a local MSP

Mark Ruskell Mark Christopher Ruskell (born 14 May 1972) is a Scottish Green Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP). He was elected to represent Mid Scotland and Fife from 2003−2007, then elected again in 2016 and re-elected in 2021. In the Scottish Par ...

met with

to discuss the withdrawal of the route.

continued to cite a lack of drivers as the reason for withdrawal. On 15 December 2021, the planned withdrawal of the route was discussed during a debate in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. However, on 20 December,

confirmed that the route would be withdrawn as planned. The route was suspended on 10 January 2022 during a timetable change that also saw the frequency of other routes reduced from half-hourly to hourly. A temporary service, numbered 202, was introduced by

Perth and Kinross Council Perth and Kinross Council () is the local authority for Perth and Kinross, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council has been under no overall control since 1999. It is based in Perth. History A district called Perth and Kinross was ...

and Bay Travel on 10 January. It runs between Kinross and

Tillicoultry Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...

, where passengers can change for the First Bus service 52 to Stirling. The route will operate until March, at which time Bay Travel will assess the viability of continuing the service.

Operation

The route was operated commercially by

. It had a frequency of approximately one bus every two hours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:X53 Stirling-Kinross Bus routes in Scotland Transport in Stirling (council area) Transport in Perth and Kinross Kinross Stirling (city) Transport in Clackmannanshire 2020 establishments in Scotland 2022 disestablishments in Scotland FirstGroup