A 'vital' bus route serving Glasgow's West End has been reinstated after securing funding - as well as a vigorous public campaign.

The CityBus 15 bus route from Milngavie to the City Centre was withdrawn from service at the end of June.

The decision was met with a barrage of criticism from people in the area, who say the journey was vital to those travelling from the West End to work.

And now, CityBus has decided to reinstate the service from Monday, August 12, after securing a two-year SPT tender to operate a subsidised service between Milngavie and Anniesland.

The route connects Milngavie, Bearsden, Anniesland, Gartnavel Hospital, Hyndland, Byres Road and the University, before passing through Woodlands and on to the City Centre.

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It was the only direct link between the Glasgow University’s main campus and the vet school on Switchback Road.

A statement from the bus company reads: "We are pleased to announce service 15 will be reinstated from Monday August 12 2019.

"Whilst this is great news for both our customers and Glasgow Citybus team, we must stress increased bus usage of the service is required to ensure the route is successful.

"The Milngavie to Anniesland section of the route is operated as part of the two-year tender awarded to Glasgow Citybus by SPT.

"We hope you support your local bus service and choose to travel on service 15."

Business owners and commuters have hailed the decision to bring back the much-used route, and say the loss of service was impacting their livelihood.

When the service was withdrawn, members of the Byres Road and Lanes Business Improvement District joined with the University of Glasgow to campaign for the route to be reinstated.

John Turner, local business owner and Chair of the BID, commented: “I am delighted at the decision to reinstate the No 15 – and not just because it is the bus I use to get to and from work!

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"It is also a vital service for the staff and customers of our member businesses, for students from the University, and especially for residents of Milngavie and Bearsden travelling to Gartnavel and the Beatson.

"The decision to withdraw the route also flew in the face of the encouragement that we should all to use our cars less and public transport more, as this is better for the environment.

"So, I commend CityBus and SPT for making the decision to restore the service. Now we all need to make a real effort to make sure it is well used, so we no longer have the threat of losing it in the future.” 

Richy Graham, operations manager at Glasgow Citybus said "We are pleased to be reintroducing service 15. Whilst this is great news, the success of the bus route ultimately depends on customers using the service, it cannot simply be a plan b or c to the car or train.

"We have amended the bus times to address the congestion issues on the line of route and will monitor its reliability to ensure we are delivering a frequent and reliable bus service to our customers."