STAGECOACH have provided festive cheer for West Fife bus passengers after announcing an investment of £2.7 million to purchase new single deck vehicles on route 19.

A total of 19 new buses, manufactured by Falkirk firm Alexander Dennis, have been introduced this month to the historic route that connects Dunfermline and Rosyth with Central Fife, and features the latest 'green' Euro 6 engines as well as free wi-fi access on board.

The Euro 6 standard, the latest emissions requirement for new vehicles to be introduced by the European Commission, aims to radically reduce the level of nitrogen oxide emitted by diesel vehicles, with regulators hopeful that the new standards will help tackle Europe's poor air quality.

Route 19, which has been in operation for over 100 years, will continue to serve Dunfermline, Rosyth and Halbeath Park and Ride, and Central Fife destinations including Hill of Beath, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Ballingry, every 10 minutes.

Andrew Jarvis, managing director of Stagecoach East Scotland, said: "Route 19 is one of our most popular routes in Fife and with this significant investment in the service, we want to ensure we provide comfortable and quality travel options for customers using the route. For regular use on our frequent route 19, 19 dayrider and 19 megarider tickets offer great value travel and are valid to buy and use on routes 19, 19A and 19X."

The route originally began as tram service 314 in 1909 from Dunfermline to Cowdenbeath and was operated by the Dunfermline and District Tramway Company.

Shortly after being taken over by bus company W Alexander and Sons in 1937, the route extended to Ballingry and remained as route 314 until the late 1970s, when it changed to route 19. Stagecoach have operated the route since the early 1990s.