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RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - DunsBus - 15/02/2014 23:01
(15/02/2014 21:59)Metroline1511 Wrote: Given that route 43 is a throwback to when First had a depot in Westfield Avenue in Edinburgh, it does seem to be an out-of-date route. It does not connect with any of the Livingston or Falkirk (or Borders) network so is a bit out of place for First now.
Some hot news (well for me anyway!) is that I am spending a few days in Edinburgh at the end of July, and can ride buses and trams there then! I have deliberately arranged it to coincide with part of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where there may be some extra bus services of interest.
Things will also have changed as I last went to Edinburgh in May 2012, just before First pulled out of Dalkeith and Lothian Buses enhanced their servies to compensate.
The reason the 43 doesn't connect with any other route is down to Queensferry Road, which can get congested at peak times and knock running times out of kilter. Lothian found this out when they ran to South Queensferry in the early 90s as their service was a cross-city one which would get caught up in the city centre and again on Queensferry Road, which meant that there was no time for layover at the Scotstoun terminus with buses coming in, turning and heading back to Edinburgh in an attempt to make up time on the inbound journey. At deregulation SMT created a South Queensferry-Penicuik through service by linking the 43 and 64/65, but this didn't work out and soon reverted to being two separate services. Later, in the First era, another attempt was made with the introduction of the 88 between South Queensferry and Rosewell only for it to revert to revert to the status quo three months later. The 88 failed was worked by Dalkeith and Westfield; Dalkeith's buses didn't have South Queensferry on their blinds, while Westfield's did but they didn't have Rosewell on their blinds, while Dalkeith's did!
Speaking of Dalkeith the former depot has been cleared since your last visit and a Morrisons supermarket is currently being built on it its site. Musselburgh depot has also been put up for sale which is currently resulting in a lot of speculation about its future.
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Mal - 23/04/2014 22:34
A VOSA notice on a Scottish forum shows an amended route for Lothian X12 which parallels the tram route and there are also hints that other (Lothian Bus) route changes will happen from 1. June 2014. Transport for Edinburgh has said that the trams will start running in May and will give 4weeks notice of the start date. That would seem to tie in with the start of fare-paying service of the trams. There is no mention of a start date on the TfE website or in the Edinburgh Evening News, though I expect a big fan-fare any time now.
Mal
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Metroline1511 - 03/05/2014 21:09
(23/04/2014 22:34)Mal Wrote: A VOSA notice on a Scottish forum shows an amended route for Lothian X12 which parallels the tram route and there are also hints that other (Lothian Bus) route changes will happen from 1. June 2014. Transport for Edinburgh has said that the trams will start running in May and will give 4weeks notice of the start date. That would seem to tie in with the start of fare-paying service of the trams. There is no mention of a start date on the TfE website or in the Edinburgh Evening News, though I expect a big fan-fare any time now.
Mal
I saw on the BBC news (formerly Ceefax) pages yesterday that the Edinburgh tram route will commence on Saturday May 31st. Oh well, having pledged May it is at least in the month promised, albeit the last day! This would make June 1st a logical date for bus route changes, as these usually occur on a Sunday.
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Mal - 05/05/2014 10:15
There is no mention of any service changes on Lothian Buses website yet, but as they usually give about 2 weeks notice of all and any changes, so all I can say is 'Watch this space'!
Mal
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Mal - 12/05/2014 19:37
Just announced are the changes for Lothian Buses services from 1. June 2014. The majority are improvements with more buses, but there are also 2 new routes (number 9 for Summer only) and the 49 is converted to double-decker operation from saloon. Full details are on LothianBuses site.
Personally, it is a sign of a great bus company where services are improving, fares are stable and routes adjusted to reflect needs of the travelling public. If only other companies were as good at listening to the public and being aware of travel trends!
Mal
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Metroline1511 - 08/06/2014 19:23
Lothian Buses have just ordered 25 Volvo B5TL-Wrightbus Geminis. These could see off the final Tridents, which are 04-reg. Although Lothian took 15 Enviro400 Hybrids, these were through Scottish government funding. It seems that Lothian Buses have still not forgiven ADL for the TransBus debacle in 2004, as they have otherwise kept to Volvo ever since. Either that, or they find Volvo an excellent manufacturer of buses!
http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=8456&categoryid=0
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Wright Eclipse - 08/06/2014 21:35
(08/06/2014 19:23)Metroline1511 Wrote: Lothian Buses have just ordered 25 Volvo B5TL-Wrightbus Geminis. These could see off the final Tridents, which are 04-reg. Although Lothian took 15 Enviro400 Hybrids, these were through Scottish government funding. It seems that Lothian Buses have still not forgiven ADL for the TransBus debacle in 2004, as they have otherwise kept to Volvo ever since. Either that, or they find Volvo an excellent manufacturer of buses!
http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=8456&categoryid=0
Nice to see Wrightbus get an order as it almost seemed this year was 100% Enviro400. i doubt it will be over the Transbus stuff in 2004 (what happend exactly - was it to do with build quality of some vehicles?) but ADL Is a different company to Transbus,its just that ADL Took over transbus (or it was something on those lines).
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - SL64 JFK - 08/06/2014 21:36
I think the only reason Lothian chose ADL for the hybrids was because of the fact that Volvo were not able to manufacture a LWB version of the B5LH for some reason. That's what I heard at the time and it makes sense to me, seeing as Lothian only order LWB double deckers.
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - bramptontrev - 19/06/2014 18:49
Date for Edinburgh Open Doors day now announced as 27/28 September 2014 - http://www.doorsopendays.org.uk/opendays/newsArticle.aspx?newsid=163.
During previous Open Doors day, Lothian Buses have held a Depot Open Doors day.
RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East - Metroline1511 - 09/08/2014 21:26
I spent a few days in Edinburgh last week. A few changes have happened on Lothian Buses recently. Some new Volvo 7900Hs are entering service on route 30. These have red seats, unlike last year's route 1 examples with green seats. Route 30 is still mixed Eclipse/ 7900H, while routes 12 and 38 are mixed Dart/ Eclipse. So, these routes are probably going over to full Eclipse operation to replace Darts. Darts are still alive and well on route 36 at least.
Leather-seated Eclipses ex-route 49 were evident on route 45. With the double-decking of route 49 and increases on Dalkieth routes after First pulled out, many 601-30 Tridents are back in service, mainly on routes 14 and 25, with occasional ones on route 19, and one even drifted onto route 11! Of these, 614-16 have been refurbished with green seats, similar to E400Hs on route 10.
Talking of refurbishments, Volvo B7TLs for routes 34 and 44, and Volvo B9TLs for routes 22 and 26 are being refurbished. These have a blue moquette of a similar shade to the former Tartan livery, but with lines to a similar style to new buses since 2011. That said, route 22 B9TLs largely retain Harlequin livery, even if reupholstered. As several route 26 B9TLs are refurbished but have a red front, I doubt forthcoming Volvo B5TLs will be for route 26. My money is on routes 11 and 16 but time will tell.
It seemed odd seeing fewer First buses, especially with high-profile route 86 now withdrawn. The only First buses I rode in Edinburgh were on Galashiels and Falkirk services, technically Midland Bluebird rather than FSE.
The trams are nice for being long and spacious, with reasonable leather seating. However, they did not seem heavily used. The tramline does strike me as having been a vanity project by Councillors who were voted out of office in 2007!