Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
How busy are the X59 X60 etc leaving Edinburgh on weekend mornings, especially during the summer? I'm trying to catch it on Queensferry Street. How likely it will be full and I might be refused boarding?
If you just want a bus that goes to Fife rather than needing a specific route number then you wouldn't need to wait long for the next service in the very unlikely event that the first bus was full.
You'd need disruption on the railway and several other factors coming together to fill successive Fife buses to capacity by Queensferry Street on a weekend morning. A bigger problem is being unable to stop the bus because you're facing backwards in the West End shelter.
As suggested, if you're worried just use the bus station instead.
Personally, I feel like the Express City Connect services at Edinburgh Bus Station could do with at least an extra 5 minutes waiting. Countless times I’ve been waiting for an X59 & it’s turned up after it was meant to leave. For some services, it’s harder to calculate (not least for the fact that you have to take into account how long it’s waiting at the other end), but if we’re talking about something like the X55 (which gets 25min At Dunfermline) or X61 (which gets 20min at Kirkcaldy), I think it could be done fairly easily. I’m working out how it could all work out without having to unnecessarily increase the peak vehicle requirements of each service, so I’ll update once I’m done.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
UPDATE;
Yeah, I had no luck with getting the X54/X59 to work without the X54 curtailing at Dundee for 4 minutes, & I couldn’t work anything out for the X58/X60 without horrendously over complicating everything.
The trouble was the current timings are down, mainly because of the driver shortages.
However, Edinburgh is a disgrace right now with its traffic management, especially around the bus station or going onto Princes street. X54 has been running late coming from Dundee because of the Tay Road bridge Roadworks.
Personally, I feel like the Express City Connect services at Edinburgh Bus Station could do with at least an extra 5 minutes waiting. Countless times I’ve been waiting for an X59 & it’s turned up after it was meant to leave. For some services, it’s harder to calculate (not least for the fact that you have to take into account how long it’s waiting at the other end), but if we’re talking about something like the X55 (which gets 25min At Dunfermline) or X61 (which gets 20min at Kirkcaldy), I think it could be done fairly easily. I’m working out how it could all work out without having to unnecessarily increase the peak vehicle requirements of each service, so I’ll update once I’m done.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
UPDATE;
Yeah, I had no luck with getting the X54/X59 to work without the X54 curtailing at Dundee for 4 minutes, & I couldn’t work anything out for the X58/X60 without horrendously over complicating everything.
You can't increase waiting times at Edinburgh bus station on the 54/59 and 58/60 without increasing PVR, unless you were to shorten the services to terminate at Glenrothes and Leven respectively as they are so closely linked to each other.
You could improve waiting times by curtailing the 54 at Glenrothes and the 60 at Leven, and then re-timing the 42 and 95 respectively to connect with those services, as the St Andrews end of the route tends to be quieter. However, North & East Fife residents are already irritated with Stagecoach having gutted their services, despite the fact that generally they aren't using them.
A lot of the problems related to the X58/60s arriving late could be sorted if it was required to switch vehicles at Leven as delays on the Edinburgh side wouldn't affect the St Andrews end. Also, roadworks on the St Andrews side of Leven, which were the biggest problem with the route last year, wouldn't affect Edinburgh Departures.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
The trouble was the current timings are down, mainly because of the driver shortages.
However, Edinburgh is a disgrace right now with its traffic management, especially around the bus station or going onto Princes street. X54 has been running late coming from Dundee because of the Tay Road bridge Roadworks.
The allocation of E300s to the route recently to improve capacity and cover for coaches hasn't helped, especially when some of them struggle to get up to motorway speeds.
You could improve waiting times by curtailing the 54 at Glenrothes and the 60 at Leven, and then re-timing the 42 and 95 respectively to connect with those services, as the St Andrews end of the route tends to be quieter.
I agree personally.
Here’s how I would go about doing it;
Changes to X54 & X60;
X54; Edinburgh to Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _44 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min)
42; Glenrothes to Dundee (terminus moved to Bus Station)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _06
• Buses arrive Dundee _20 (74min)
• Buses leave Dundee _44
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _55 (71min)
X60; Edinburgh to Leven (NOTE; route in Dalgety Bay switched with X58)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _25
• Buses arrive Leven _10 (105min)
• Buses leave Leven _20
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _13 (113min)
95; Leven to St. Andrews
• Buses leave Leven _25
• Buses arrive St. Andrews _00 (95min)
• Buses leave St. Andrews _35
• Buses arrive Leven _07 (92min)
Updated Express City Connect arrival & departure times
X54; 12min wait at Edinburgh, 26min wait at Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _46 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min)
You could improve waiting times by curtailing the 54 at Glenrothes and the 60 at Leven, and then re-timing the 42 and 95 respectively to connect with those services, as the St Andrews end of the route tends to be quieter.
I agree personally.
Here’s how I would go about doing it;
Changes to X54 & X60;
X54; Edinburgh to Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _44 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min) 42; Glenrothes to Dundee (terminus moved to Bus Station)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _06
• Buses arrive Dundee _20 (74min)
• Buses leave Dundee _44
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _55 (71min)
X60; Edinburgh to Leven (NOTE; route in Dalgety Bay switched with X58)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _25
• Buses arrive Leven _10 (105min)
• Buses leave Leven _20
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _13 (113min) 95; Leven to St. Andrews
• Buses leave Leven _25
• Buses arrive St. Andrews _00 (95min)
• Buses leave St. Andrews _35
• Buses arrive Leven _07 (92min)
Updated Express City Connect arrival & departure times
X54; 12min wait at Edinburgh, 26min wait at Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _46 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min)
The trouble was the current timings are down, mainly because of the driver shortages.
However, Edinburgh is a disgrace right now with its traffic management, especially around the bus station or going onto Princes street. X54 has been running late coming from Dundee because of the Tay Road bridge Roadworks.
Triaxles can't be used on the Leven to St Andrews section of the X60 so interworking with the X24 would only make the capacity issues experienced on the latter much worse.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Express services were revised in November 2022, because of the driver shortages. No one is going to increase them unless they know everything can be covered.
Dups have appear on Saturdays on the Glasgow express however it's not guaranteed if dup will appear, because the staff are needed elsewhere.
Express services were revised in November 2022, because of the driver shortages. No one is going to increase them unless they know everything can be covered.
Dups have appear on Saturdays on the Glasgow express however it's not guaranteed if dup will appear, because the staff are needed elsewhere.
A wider service review in Nov 22 included revisions for driver shortages but express changes were reflecting demand.
A set number of duplicates are agreed (in the week prior) for each weekend on run up to Christmas and used as and when required. They obviously don’t employ additional staff to cover short term dupes
Even in November 2022 the Express network was overcrowded, I see services are still getting pulled due to driver illness you never had that problem before covid etc. X55 should be back to every 20mins but instead D/line depot is still during two duties on the X56... and has to throw out Deckers to operate the X55.
They obviously don’t employ additional staff to cover short term dupes
Triaxles can't be used on the Leven to St Andrews section of the X60 so interworking with the X24 would only make the capacity issues experienced on the latter much worse.
Admittedly i had forgotten about the 13.8M Elites, however my point was more referring to the 15 metre vehicles which are used on the X24. The 13.8M Elites only have one additional row of seats over the dual axle variants so would still be far too small for the X24, while as already highlighted anything larger isn't suitable for the X60. So realistically it rules out any prospect of the X24 and X60 interworking.
I agree personally.
Here’s how I would go about doing it;
Changes to X54 & X60;
X54; Edinburgh to Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _44 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min)
42; Glenrothes to Dundee (terminus moved to Bus Station)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _06
• Buses arrive Dundee _20 (74min)
• Buses leave Dundee _44
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _55 (71min)
X60; Edinburgh to Leven (NOTE; route in Dalgety Bay switched with X58)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _25
• Buses arrive Leven _10 (105min)
• Buses leave Leven _20
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _13 (113min)
95; Leven to St. Andrews
• Buses leave Leven _25
• Buses arrive St. Andrews _00 (95min)
• Buses leave St. Andrews _35
• Buses arrive Leven _07 (92min)
Updated Express City Connect arrival & departure times
X54; 12min wait at Edinburgh, 26min wait at Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _46 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min)
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I agree personally.
Here’s how I would go about doing it;
Changes to X54 & X60;
X54; Edinburgh to Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _44 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min) 42; Glenrothes to Dundee (terminus moved to Bus Station)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _06
• Buses arrive Dundee _20 (74min)
• Buses leave Dundee _44
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _55 (71min)
X60; Edinburgh to Leven (NOTE; route in Dalgety Bay switched with X58)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _25
• Buses arrive Leven _10 (105min)
• Buses leave Leven _20
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _13 (113min) 95; Leven to St. Andrews
• Buses leave Leven _25
• Buses arrive St. Andrews _00 (95min)
• Buses leave St. Andrews _35
• Buses arrive Leven _07 (92min)
Updated Express City Connect arrival & departure times
X54; 12min wait at Edinburgh, 26min wait at Glenrothes (NOTE; route in Cowdenbeath switched with X59)
• Buses leave Edinburgh _35
• Buses arrive Glenrothes _46 (71min)
• Buses leave Glenrothes _10
• Buses arrive Edinburgh _23 (73min)
I agree with swapping the routes of the X58/60 in Dalgety Bay, make the X58 be the overall faster service throughout, however, changing the X58A to do the current 60 route I don't see the point of from a customer persepctive as the idea of that services is to try and cover as much as possible of both the X58 and X60's routes with only 1 bus an hour (The X60s Kirkcaldy segment being covered by the returning X27s and the Methilhill segments by the 44A & 49s). Although from the perspective of being one of the drivers on the 58A I won't lie I would love to have it be even shorter...
The X61 definitely needs its departure times looked at, it makes no sense for it to leave Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh 5 minutes before the X58, even if its going a different route, it would make more sense if it ran a whole 15 minutes earlier , that way it wouldn't conflict with the arrival of the X27s, which has been a nightmare ever since the changes in summer which saw 2 minutes being taken off the return route from Glasgow and a 2 minutes stance conflict between the X27 & X61. Which also exists at Halbeath when bound for Kirkcaldy.
54312-18 now, 311 died. And 15m Triaxles can go round the bends in anstruther, its just not ideal, especially with less experienced drivers. Quite a few times last year 54109 and 54117, would be sent to do WD2 which required going round the worst bend. Its the parked cars that really make it a challenge to operate 15m coaches, but it can be done.
Admittedly i had forgotten about the 13.8M Elites, however my point was more referring to the 15 metre vehicles which are used on the X24. The 13.8M Elites only have one additional row of seats over the dual axle variants so would still be far too small for the X24, while as already highlighted anything larger isn't suitable for the X60. So realistically it rules out any prospect of the X24 and X60 interworking.
It makes more sense for the X59 and X24 to be interworked than the X24 and X60, seeing as interworking the 59/24 would require changes to the X58 and X54 as well, since the X60 is mostly ran by Aberhill and the X24 mostly by Glenrothes. Whereas interworking the 24/59 would be a lot simpler to make the neccessary changes without needing to move vehicles between depots.
Today I was going to take the 1015 X56 departing Edinburgh up to Halbeath, but for some reason it was curtailed at the Forth Bridge (not actually going into Edinburgh). It then went up to the St. Leonard’s depot, went back down to Ferrytoll Park & Ride, & continued from there. Any reason as to why this happened? I know that a lot of the buses were delayed heading into the city but the X56 being delayed surprises me.
Today I was going to take the 1015 X56 departing Edinburgh up to Halbeath, but for some reason it was curtailed at the Forth Bridge (not actually going into Edinburgh). It then went up to the St. Leonard’s depot, went back down to Ferrytoll Park & Ride, & continued from there. Any reason as to why this happened? I know that a lot of the buses were delayed heading into the city but the X56 being delayed surprises me.
I see an Enviro400 was involved in an incident this morning on Chapel Road, Kirkcaldy while on the SM1 route. Driver seemed to handle it very well and thankfully there was no injuries.
A Stagecoach bus lost control while travelling down Chapel Road in Kirkcaldy on Monday morning.
news.stv.tv
A school bus smashed into multiple cars on a residential street in Fife after losing control on “pure ice”.
Emergency services were called to Chapel Road, Kirkcaldy, at around 8.30am on Monday after receiving reports of a crash involving a Stagecoach double-decker bus.
Footage shared with STV News shows the bus, which was serving St Marie’s Primary School, smashing into several parked cars as it skidded uncontrollably in a near full circle down a residential street.
It was confirmed that no passengers were onboard at the time of the crash, and no injuries were suffered as a result.
I see an Enviro400 was involved in an incident this morning on Chapel Road, Kirkcaldy while on the SM1 route. Driver seemed to handle it very well and thankfully there was no injuries.
I see an Enviro400 was involved in an incident this morning on Chapel Road, Kirkcaldy while on the SM1 route. Driver seemed to handle it very well and thankfully there was no injuries.
Out of interest, how do the transfers between Stagecoach operating companies work?
Is there a central coordinator matching supply and demand?
Do the individual companies post their own surplus/requirements?
Or what?
Thanks
Out of interest, how do the transfers between Stagecoach operating companies work?
Is there a central coordinator matching supply and demand?
Do the individual companies post their own surplus/requirements?
Or what?
Thanks
Depends on whether it’s a transfer or a loan. Transfers are driven by the driver/staff member if they need/want to move to another depot/operating company.
Loans: operating company who requires them will write out to other opco’s asking for assistance. Might be a one off for an event or longer term due to shortages/additional work
Depends on whether it’s a transfer or a loan. Transfers are driven by the driver/staff member if they need/want to move to another depot/operating company.
Loans: operating company who requires them will write out to other opco’s asking for assistance. Might be a one off for an event or longer term due to shortages/additional work
The batch they are in is listed as being on order for 2024-2025, so they may not be for sometime (unlike the Megabus Scotland ones currently being built).
9700DDs are very blatant Plaxton Panorama/Vanhool Astromega rip offs, & I think that they just look really odd. Significantly better than the elites in use though!
We are aware of an issue with emails from the Forum to Microsoft-based email accounts (hotmail/outlook/live.com email addresses). This is being looked into currently, thanks for your patience meanwhile.
