Lothian Group discussion (Lothian City, Lothian Country Bus and East Coast Buses)

[CN04NRJ]

Why does the 44 not use XLB's? I think they use buses from all depots, and besides, the X44 uses them no problem.

Longstone only. Central do three weekend turns currently and a rush bus on a Friday afternoon, not sure if that arrangement carries on from the service change.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Rush bus on a Friday afternoon

This bus operates every weekday, not just Fridays.

 

[stantheman]

Noticed several Marine 7900s on the 2 today . What vehicles are being used on the 1 and 2 after the change next Sunday

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Noticed several Marine 7900s on the 2 today . What vehicles are being used on the 1 and 2 after the change next Sunday

Possibly Off-peak times then. They'll almost definitely use double-deckers in this day and age on peak routes.

 

[CN04NRJ]

Noticed several Marine 7900s on the 2 today . What vehicles are being used on the 1 and 2 after the change next Sunday

It'll be fully operated by marine 7 days a week, so probably single decks.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 May 2022 ==

This bus operates every weekday, not just Fridays.

Ah! Just pure coincidence I've only ever seen it on a Friday, didn't realise it was every day.

 

[Mickcloud9]

591-594 are hybrids are they not? Sure they were at LCB before being repainted and transferred to ECB

 

[Lothian_Bus]

Why does the 44 not use XLB's? I think they use buses from all depots, and besides, the X44 uses them no problem.

Tight turn at one of the termini, Wallyford, I believe? XLB's only use them on the part route 44's from Haymarket - Balerno and back before starting the X44's which terminate at Tranent. Central only operates some 44's at the weekend, otherwise it's all Longstone.

If I have interpreted the new timetable correctly the 44 will be exclusively Longstone again at the weekend.

 

[CN04NRJ]

591-594 are hybrids are they not? Sure they were at LCB before being repainted and transferred to ECB

Yes, with the Euro 4 engine and on 11 plates. They were painted white when acquired from Bullocks and then repainted into LCB livery, not the most reliable of buses. If they wanted to keep them they could have sent them to a city depot to plod around on short routes imo.

 

[Mickcloud9]

Think I had the pleasure of driving 592 when it was at LCB, wasn’t the worst of buses as hybrids go. Nowhere near as temperamental as the 570’s. Was disappointed to see them go tbh. Some of the LCB buses are starting to show their age.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Will the 16 to Torphon be big buses , just wonder about the hill up to there . Don’t think they could reach Bonaly

The N16 has run to Torphin using them for years. Yes they may be slightly heavier than typical buses but they’ve got large and powerful engines to make up for that and they handle hills easily. They can handle Gore Avenue they can handle the hill from Lasswade to Bonnyrigg so Torphin is just another road.

Tight turn at one of the termini, Wallyford, I believe? XLB's only use them on the part route 44's from Haymarket - Balerno and back before starting the X44's which terminate at Tranent. Central only operates some 44's at the weekend, otherwise it's all Longstone.

The XLBs can manage every route except the mini roundabout at Pilton on the 8.

 

[CN04NRJ]

The N16 has ran to toprhin using them for years, yes they may be slightly heavier than typical buses but they’ve got large and powerful engines to make up for that and they handle hills easily. They can handle Gore Avenue they can handle the hill from Lasswade to Bonnyrigg so Torphin is just another road

The XLBs can manage every route except the mini roundabout at Pilton on the 8

I've answered their first question already. The XLBs are route cleared for every Central route bar the 8, and as evidenced during lockdown/festive period they can be used on anything without low bridges. If they removed the fence and bollards on the 8 they could use them there too.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 May 2022 ==

I've answered their first question already. The XLBs are route cleared for every Central route bar the 8, and as evidenced during lockdown/festive period they can be used on anything without low bridges. If they removed the fence and bollards on the 8 they could use them there too.

Edit: The X44 is in part (or whole?) done by Central.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Just wondered if Lothian have finally won a good chunk of the EMF (Marathon) contract this year? I know in the past Stagecoach have supplied most of it but there’s a number of Lothian’s buses out not tracking in service.

 

[Busman757]

Just wondered if Lothian have finally won a good chunk of the EMF (Marathon) contract this year? I know in the past Stagecoach have supplied most of it but there’s a number of Lothian’s buses out not tracking in service.

Mate works with Stagecoach and he’s on Marathon shuttles in Port Seton.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Mate works with Stagecoach and he’s on Marathon shuttles in Port Seton.

Park and ride marathon shuttles are indeed Stagecoach operated. Seems to be overall ALX400's with some E400 MMC's. Lothian are operating spare buses on routes 19, 26, 44 & 113 to the City Centre.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

does anyone know if there are any updates network maps online? Last I checked Lothian haven’t updated theirs

 

[Bus9120UK]

does anyone know if there are any updates network maps online? Last I checked Lothian haven’t updated theirs

The last change was last month I believe based on the date in the file name. Best evidence there is is the new eastcoast and Lothiancountry branding being visible.

 

[stevenedin]

They normally update it on the day of the service changes

 

[LothianBusesPh]

They normally update it on the day of the service changes

They do it either then or the day before, although it should be the day as customers can get confused? Maybe the paper ones will be optional with the other one in a few days? Not to sure though.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

They do it either then or the day before, although it should be the day as customers can get confused? Maybe the paper ones will be optional with the other one in a few days? Not to sure though.

Are Lothian still doing paper timetables? I haven’t been in a travel shop in forever but I thought covid was the reason they were scrapped

 

[Graham Alexand]

Are Lothian still doing paper timetables? I haven’t been in a travel shop in forever but I thought covid was the reason they were scrapped

I'm pretty sure they're all online now, the Lothian Country travel hub in Livingston doesn't have any from what I had seen.

 

[Lothian285]

Are Lothian still doing paper timetables? I haven’t been in a travel shop in forever but I thought covid was the reason they were scrapped

They still have paper route maps which now include a frequency guide but not timetables.

 

[DunsBus]

927 now has LED screens.

They think it's all over and, as far as roller blinds on service buses in Edinburgh are concerned, it is now!

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

927 now has LED screens.

They think it's all over and, as far as roller blinds on service buses in Edinburgh are concerned, it is now!

I presume they were waiting for more to come in stock as I’d have thought it would’ve been done well before now.

There’s a suggestion that 551 has received them as well but that’s unconfirmed for now.

 

[Graham Alexand]

There’s a suggestion that 551 has received them as well but that’s unconfirmed for now.

551 has always had a digital display, has it not?

 

[scosutsut]

551 has always had a digital display, has it not?

A quick glance in a popular search engine would suggest to me, if photos are dated correctly, that it was new with the traditional Lothian layout three area display (route number, destination points and destination) - and this was digital.

It appears to then have been changed to a single line one in common with the rest of the fleet.

 

[Bus9120UK]

551 has always had a digital display, has it not?

551 has (or potentially had) Mobitecs, not hanovers. 551 going on the same day as 927 would make it seem like it could be hanovers, I'm sure a photo will be somewhere soon to confirm this.

 

[ScotRail158725]

551 has always had a digital display, has it not?

551 has received hannovers like 401-425 have

 

[CN04NRJ]

551 has received hannovers like 401-425 have

They both went today for fitment. Just happened to see 927 being driven back to Central by an engineer while I was waiting on London Road.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Replying to all, The paper timetables are coming back later this year or next year, If no restrictions are enforced in the next few months, Lothian WILL bring them back. If you doubt me I have sources in the Head Office but I will not reveal their name to respect their privacy.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Yes just to clarify I was meant to suggest 551 was gaining Hanovers. Apologies for any confusion there.

Glad to see 927 has had a bit of a tidy up with the black surround too, it was looking a bit messy while it had the rollers.