Lothian Buses and ECB Discussion

[sam120]

I don’t see the 15 going back to Musselburgh anytime soon, especially since the 124 already covers the old route from Prestonpans to Lothian Road. The 21 is fine as it is from that part, especially since it stops near the Jewel and Fort anyway. For the 12 do you mean extend it to Restalrig via Fillyside? because that could possibly work! and it would be better if the 49 didn’t curtail to Kings Road if it was to run via Fillyside and Seafield since it would make more sense to connect it with Portobello

yeah that makes more sense... when are these changes set to be announced as if it’s for early march they’re cutting it quite fine no?

 

[overthewater]

There is NO schedule service changes: Lothian have made it very clear there will be NO CUTS in frequency for any routes which get these new 100 seater deckers. I see people might have started to click why the East coast routes are busier now ie there forced passengers using Lothian routes over to the new ECB routes.

 

[sam120]

There is NO schedule service changes: Lothian have made it very clear there will be NO CUTS in frequency for any routes which get these new 100 seater deckers. I see people might have started to click why the East coast routes are busier now ie there forced passengers using Lothian routes over to the new ECB routes.

i think a few east coast services need tweaking, ie 140 back into Hardengreen Tesco and Auchendinny, maybe an extension fort kinnaird or ocean terminal ways also? X5 could do with a looser schedule and is the X24 really needed? after all the delays it takes no less time and all it’s doing is taking 5 mins of a 100 minute route while missing out about 15 stops.

 

[scotrail158713]

I see people might have started to click why the East coast routes are busier now ie there forced passengers using Lothian routes over to the new ECB routes.

Yeah. Removing the 44 from Tranent and putting passengers onto the 113 and the same with the x15 and 124 in Prestonpans. Although having the 26, 44, 104 & 113 all going from Tranent to Edinburgh did seem like overkill anyway.

 

[Darklord8899]

i thought that changing the 21 to go via the jewel and the fort so there’s still a link between leith and the fort, cut the 49 to kings road via Seafield and Fillyside, put the 12 to restalrig and have the 25 go lochend and the 15 to musselburgh again as i found that to be a well used service.

My thought for the 49.....
Runs as is Roswell to Infirmary, then go out the back way, through the bus gate, up to Greendykes then direct to Fort Kinnaird, then as is to Duke Street, Great Junction St., North Junction St. To Ocean Terminal
Or
Split it into two services:
48 (for arguments sake): Fort Kinnaird to Infirmary (via current 49 route) or from Portobello via Seafield Road East and Leith Links to Duke Street...
49: Fort Kinnaird - Greendykes - Infirmary - Rosewell

 

[Darklord8899]

I see people might have started to click why the East coast routes are busier now ie there forced passengers using Lothian routes over to the new ECB routes.

.....if people are "only starting to click" now....it's taken them a long time....not like the ECB routes only started last week
....the removal of the 44 from Tranent and the 15/X15 from Meadowmill was not a shock to me....

 

[scotrail158713]

.....if people are "only starting to click" now....it's taken them a long time....not like the ECB routes only started last week

the removal of the 44 from Tranent and the 15/X15 from Meadowmill was not a shock to me....

I agree. The 44s certainly were almost dead by the time they reached Tranent and the vast majority of passengers would’ve originated from Princes Street and east so it was better to just put them on the 104 and the 113. I’m not sure about the x15 though but I’m sure it was a similar case.

My thought for the 49.....
Runs as is Roswell to Infirmary, then go out the back way, through the bus gate, up to Greendykes then direct to Fort Kinnaird, then as is to Duke Street, Great Junction St., North Junction St. To Ocean Terminal
Or
Split it into two services:
48 (for arguments sake): Fort Kinnaird to Infirmary (via current 49 route) or from Portobello via Seafield Road East and Leith Links to Duke Street...
49: Fort Kinnaird - Greendykes - Infirmary - Rosewell

That seems like a reasonable suggestion. The 49 is a frustrating route for me as I’ve gone between Dalkeith and Fort Kinnaird a few times recently and got off a 49 at the Infirmary to get a 400. This annoys me as I know that the 49 is still going where I’m going - just taking the most circuitous route possible. (I’ve always had a day ticket though so I was paying no more by doing this - if I was paying for a single I’d just slog it out for the tour of Portobello )

 

[Darklord8899]

That seems like a reasonable suggestion. The 49 is a frustrating route for me as I’ve gone between Dalkeith and Fort Kinnaird a few times recently and got off a 49 at the Infirmary to get a 400. This annoys me as I know that the 49 is still going where I’m going - just taking the most circuitous route possible. (I’ve always had a day ticket though so I was paying no more by doing this - if I was paying for a single I’d just slog it out for the tour of Portobello )

LOL, aye I would certainly feel for you having to travel Dalkeith to Fort K on the 49.... also you'd loose about 2 hrs (each way) of your life

 

[overthewater]

.....if people are "only starting to click" now....it's taken them a long time....not like the ECB routes only started last week
....the removal of the 44 from Tranent and the 15/X15 from Meadowmill was not a shock to me....

Alot of people don't look at the full picture. It's good reason why the East coast buses routes are busy and making money, There is no competition, and the overall number of buses per hour is lower. Lothian forced everyone over to ECB.

 

[scotrail158713]

LOL, aye I would certainly feel for you having to travel Dalkeith to Fort K on the 49.... also you'd loose about 2 hrs (each way) of your life

2 hours?! Is that how long it takes? I’ve never looked into it as I’ve never been in the position where I’d have to put myself through that. In that case I’d happily pay for the two buses
(I also got a 33 one time from Gorebridge to Princes Street - never again! It made the 26 from Tranent to Edinburgh seem quick )

 

[Darklord8899]

2 hours?! Is that how long it takes? I’ve never looked into it as I’ve never been in the position where I’d have to put myself through that. In that case I’d happily pay for the two buses
(I also got a 33 one time from Gorebridge to Princes Street - never again! It made the 26 from Tranent to Edinburgh seem quick )

I was actually guessing ..... but from Rosewell to Fort K
Quickest (0531 from Rosewell) takes 1hr 34 minutes
Longest (0802 from Rosewell) takes 2 hr 5 minutes

 

[sam120]

I was actually guessing ..... but from Rosewell to Fort K
Quickest (0531 from Rosewell) takes 1hr 34 minutes
Longest (0802 from Rosewell) takes 2 hr 5 minutes

i live on the 49 route and i bloody hate it, busy, cramped, unreliable single decker route which takes about an hour to go anywhere relavent...lol

 

[Darklord8899]

i live on the 49 route and i bloody hate it, busy, cramped, unreliable single decker route which takes about an hour to go anywhere relavent...lol

Poor you! Aye it is certainly a route that needs double Deckers on it (at least for certain times of the day) plus the length of route does nothing for reliability

 

[TheEastCoaster]

You’d think if even a very minor service change we would of heard something by now, especially with what route the new buses will be allocated on..

That seems like a reasonable suggestion. The 49 is a frustrating route for me as I’ve gone between Dalkeith and Fort Kinnaird a few times recently and got off a 49 at the Infirmary to get a 400. This annoys me as I know that the 49 is still going where I’m going - just taking the most circuitous route possible. (I’ve always had a day ticket though so I was paying no more by doing this - if I was paying for a single I’d just slog it out for the tour of Portobello )

I don’t blame you for switching at the royal to Fort Kinnaird, much faster! though honestly if it was a double decker service like it really should be it wouldn’t be an issue, except every 49 at peak time i can hardly see inside because it’s so full, i tend to avoid using it now for that reason only unless it’s an absolute last resort

 

[OmniCity999]

The 49 is one of those routes that isn't designed for end-to-end journeys.

 

[overthewater]

I still think it should be every 15mins from Roswell to hospital then spilts in two... One doing the currebt route, while another goes to the fort and then 49 route around to city centre.

 

[OmniCity999]

As a single deck route this would possibly work, but if it were to go double deck, you'd be looking to take it down to a 20 min frequency.

Every 20 minutes, Dalkeith Campus to Fort Kinnaird via the City Centre and Every 20 minutes Rosewell to Elm Row or North Bridge (as its final destination) via Fort Kinnard could possibly work. Passengers could change between Dalkeith and RIE for a quicker journey to Fort Kinnaird, ASDA and Portobello.

Both variations would be regestered as separate services with the same number and could interwork easily with services swapping anywhere along the route. One of the variations could even go through Danderhall itself to cover more of an operating area.

 

[smtglasgow]

Mention of Danderhall reminded me that when we were looking for a house last summer we went up to Shawfair. I had expected to see more development, but the website has been updated and suggests things are beginning to happen. Any idea yet on how Lothian will serve the area?

 

[OmniCity999]

There isn't enough people or resources in the area yet to negate a service alteration or registration to the area.

One of Prentice's services serves the area but its not a busy enough area yet. In the future, i can see a service going Musselburgh, Old Craighall, Millerhill, Shawfair, Danderhall and then onward. But currently the area is pretty dead. There really isnt much going on unfortunately.

 

[ScotRail158725]

There isn't enough people or resources in the area yet to negate a service alteration or registration to the area.

One of Prentice's services serves the area but its not a busy enough area yet. In the future, i can see a service going Musselburgh, Old Craighall, Millerhill, Shawfair, Danderhall and then onward. But currently the area is pretty dead. There really isnt much going on unfortunately.

Funny, i was thinking eventually when Shawfair is finished what services will go there? I reckon the 14 will be extended into somewhere in Shawfair.

Also in other news the first second hand vehicle at Lothian Motorcoaches is at Newbridge but still in its old livery

 

[OmniCity999]

Funny, i was thinking eventually when Shawfair is finished what services will go there? I reckon the 14 will be extended into somewhere in Shawfair.

Also in other news the first second hand vehicle at Lothian Motorcoaches is at Newbridge but still in its old livery

One of the Levantes? To be a pedant, technically it's not the first second hand vehicle to Lothian Motorcoaches, the have three Vanhools from an operator in London and a Plaxton Paragon from Stagecoach. Not to mention the 10 B9's from Lothian...

 

[OmniCity999]

In other news, I've started working on the fleet list again. An update will be out soon.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Well thats a sight. Marine car park currently consists of 665/650/629/633. Not been that empty since July 2017 when the first batch of 52 plates were withdrawn

 

[OmniCity999]

Well thats a sight. Marine car park currently consists of 665/650/629/633. Not been that empty since July 2017 when the first batch of 52 plates were withdrawn

Thorntons have done a good job of clearing it. Alot have went to Ensign and other dealers with some going straight to new owners.

 

[OmniCity999]

It'll soon be filled with B7's of course!

 

[ScotRail158725]

Thorntons have done a good job of clearing it. Alot have went to Ensign and other dealers with some going straight to new owners.

Yep. Im trying to keep an up to date spreadsheet of where everything is going but im still a few short. Have you any idea where any of these have went? 631/634/639/641/645/647/648/652-655/662/663/668. Any help would be great. Quite a few of the 04s i need to find where they have went but im waiting for Ensigns February moves to be released as quite a few will show up there im guessing

 

[VioletEclipse]

Well thats a sight. Marine car park currently consists of 665/650/629/633. Not been that empty since July 2017 when the first batch of 52 plates were withdrawn

Goodness me, well as stated above I'd expect most of 702-730 to be there soon.

 

[ScotRail158725]

It'll soon be filled with B7's of course!

Hopefully 701-750 stay on the longest as they are easily the best batch of vehicles going

 

[ScotRail158725]

Goodness me, well as stated above I'd expect most of 702-730 to be there soon.

I reckon that the Central ones will go first instead of moving the Central ones to Longstone.

 

[VioletEclipse]

I reckon that the Central ones will go first instead of moving the Central ones to Longstone.

Could be, although I'd reckon that Central Geminis 767-825 will gradually move to Marine (and maybe some to Longstone) while the 55 plate B7TLs leave Longstone and Marine to be sold over the course of the year.