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

[VioletEclipse]

1065 is already back in Central.

Glad that it's back!

I really hope that the reporting of no injuries in the crash yesterday in true. Has there been an increase in serious crashes involving buses this year, or does it just seem like that to me?

 

[DunsBus]

That's wild. Arriva's nearest depot then was what? Inchinnan?

Yes it was - Arriva Scotland West.

 

[atfd26]

Do you think there is a possibility of one of 3-10 heading to Longstone to temporarily replace 29?

 

[ScotRail158725]

Do you think there is a possibility of one of 3-10 heading to Longstone to temporarily replace 29?

Hopefully not the less of those things on the road the better…

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Do you think there is a possibility of one of 3-10 heading to Longstone to temporarily replace 29?

What would be more likely is 3 returning to use at Central and 31 returning to Longstone.

14 appears to be getting used in the short term, but this is one of the route trainer buses and probably isn’t practical long term.

The repaint program probably isn’t helping matters either. Two of Longstone’s 7900’s are currently being painted.

 

[Resuwen]

How has it been decided which 7900s are for withdrawal and which have a future life

 

[Bus9120UK]

193 is now being used on the Car Park shuttle along side bus 12. 192 has additionally repositioned to Longstone so will likely be swapped with 12 soon.
Given that Longstone has just gained 23 on normal service again (with 14 returning from reserve to take its place as a trainer) I doubt there will be any movements to cover bus 29.
Although it is correct that 23 has likely allowed the repaints to be sped up at Longstone, so it may be that they reduce back to one Longstone bus at a time as a result.

I figure that long term, once Longstone repaints are complete, 30 will move to Central and 41 to Marine. 41 would then be the repaint float for Marine and eventually would allow one more Eclipse 2 to move to East Coast buses.

Also, a number of 7900s have started to appear on Central decker routes as of late. There is one on the 27 and another on the 7 right now.

 

[atfd26]

193 is now being used on the Car Park shuttle along side bus 12. 192 has additionally repositioned to Longstone so will likely be swapped with 12 soon.
Given that Longstone has just gained 23 on normal service again (with 14 returning from reserve to take its place as a trainer) I doubt there will be any movements to cover bus 29.
Although it is correct that 23 has likely allowed the repaints to be sped up at Longstone, so it may be that they reduce back to one Longstone bus at a time as a result.

I figure that long term, once Longstone repaints are complete, 30 will move to Central and 41 to Marine. 41 would then be the repaint float for Marine and eventually would allow one more Eclipse 2 to move to East Coast buses.

Also, a number of 7900s have started to appear on Central decker routes as of late. There is one on the 27 and another on the 7 right now.

I still find it strange what's happening with 49 as it hasn' seen service since February. Also any word on 1141-1153 and a buyer

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Does anyone here know if any of the East Coast services do Ridacard Fares much like Lothian Country services do?

I know Zone C/D ridacards from the former Lothian Country Buses days are still valid on these services in their respective zones, it is a shame they never carried on in 2016 when Lothian took over the rest of East Lothian.

 

[Porty]

Does anyone here know if any of the East Coast services do Ridacard Fares much like Lothian Country services do?

I know Zone C/D ridacards from the former Lothian Country Buses days are still valid on these services in their respective zones, it is a shame they never carried on in 2016 when Lothian took over the rest of East Lothian.

They do weekly caps on a debit card.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

They do weekly caps on a debit card.

No I know that they do that, I was just wondering if it was only Lothian Country that do discounted single tickets for Ridacard users, or if East Coast have the same deal, I figured that especially with the new integrated tickets, they would have something that benefits both sections of the region.

 

[UK Bus Spotter]

37 BG64 FXM operating the 24 tonight

 

[ScotRail158725]

37 BG64 FXM operating the 24 tonight

Throwback to the days when thats the route they were new for

 

[computerSaysNo]

So are Central operating with no spare double deckers at the moment?

 

[Bus9120UK]

So are Central operating with no spare double deckers at the moment?

1065 has yet to hit the road, 1125 continues to be used on the 100, and 292 is consistently spending afternoon's doing something at Gosford House. There is also still BZLs reguarly at Volvo, 760e just now.
They do still have 380 though even though it should be moving to Longstone now.
Three different occurrences in one day is definitely interesting though.

 

[stevenedin]

No I know that they do that, I was just wondering if it was only Lothian Country that do discounted single tickets for Ridacard users, or if East Coast have the same deal, I figured that especially with the new integrated tickets, they would have something that benefits both sections of the region.

They do have the same discount. I think £1 or £2 off the single fare.

 

[VioletEclipse]

37 BG64 FXM operating the 24 tonight

there was a time when this was about as newsworthy as 68 being on the 30 or 624 on the 3.

nice to see one of them back on the 24 though. saw quite a few diesels on central routes that are usually BZL operated yesterday, the decker shortage might explain some of that.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

They do have the same discount. I think £1 or £2 off the single fare.

Thats good! It must be £1 off because last time I went out to Livingston it cost me £3.20 for a single ticket, back in 2018 it was £1.70 which matched the City Single fare back in the day.

I know the new focus is weekly caps, but I do think Lothian should invest in an all network Ridacard, much like the privilege ridacards, if people are willing to pay for them, they should supply it, that or a digital Ridacard on the Bus and Tram App, but I'm getting way ahead of myself with that one.

 

[alexf380]

It's either £1 or £2 off depending on how far you are travelling. From Haddington to Edinburgh the fare is £4.20, but with a ridacard you only need a ticket to the boundary of zone C/B where the ridacard takes over, so £3.20 is the fare due. From North Berwick to Edinburgh it's £5.20, or £4.20 to Presonpans/Musselburgh but you still need a ticket to the zone C/B boundary so £3.20 needs to be paid. It's a bit complex and not every driver gets it correct. The cheapest fare for journeys to/within East Lothian will always be on TapTapCap contactless.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

It's either £1 or £2 off depending on how far you are travelling. From Haddington to Edinburgh the fare is £4.20, but with a ridacard you only need a ticket to the boundary of zone C/B where the ridacard takes over, so £3.20 is the fare due. From North Berwick to Edinburgh it's £5.20, or £4.20 to Presonpans/Musselburgh but you still need a ticket to the zone C/B boundary so £3.20 needs to be paid. It's a bit complex and not every driver gets it correct. The cheapest fare for journeys to/within East Lothian will always be on TapTapCap contactless.

I usually try and just buy the Country Day Ticket. This does the job just as well and is far less complicated.

On Lothian Country you can buy this straight away, as all ridacards have to be manually approved. A lot of the drivers don’t know how to do this, but I’ve managed to remember which button it is.

ECB is more annoying though. As ridacards don’t require any manual approval then you have to wait until you reach Zone B. Often the driver says to me, just buy it on the way back or when I get off. Depends on the driver. I like the honesty of the first idea, but someone could easily just not pay it if they were only needing a single back. Though in my case I’m usually wondering around on 123’s etc so I’d still need the Day Ticket.

For this specific case, I wish ECB would just be the same as Lothian Country and therefore require manual approval for the ridacards.

 

[Auld reekie]

Any idea what H44w on the bus tracker is?

 

[alexf380]

I usually try and just buy the Country Day Ticket. This does the job just as well and is far less complicated.

On Lothian Country you can buy this straight away, as all ridacards have to be manually approved. A lot of the drivers don’t know how to do this, but I’ve managed to remember which button it is.

ECB is more annoying though. As ridacards don’t require any manual approval then you have to wait until you reach Zone B. Often the driver says to me, just buy it on the way back or when I get off. Depends on the driver. I like the honesty of the first idea, but someone could easily just not pay it if they were only needing a single back. Though in my case I’m usually wondering around on 123’s etc so I’d still need the Day Ticket.

For this specific case, I wish ECB would just be the same as Lothian Country and therefore require manual approval for the ridacards.

I normally change the fare stage manually to sell the right ticket, but I'm sure I'm in the minority there. Yes a day ticket is much less hassle.

 

[atfd26]

there was a time when this was about as newsworthy as 68 being on the 30 or 624 on the 3.

nice to see one of them back on the 24 though. saw quite a few diesels on central routes that are usually BZL operated yesterday, the decker shortage might explain some of that.

Surely if there was such a shortage some of the Ex Londons in reserve could return for a few shifts

 

[Edirim]

Any idea what H44w on the bus tracker is?

Hogmany 44 service for balerno

 

[TheEastCoaster]

I usually try and just buy the Country Day Ticket. This does the job just as well and is far less complicated.

On Lothian Country you can buy this straight away, as all ridacards have to be manually approved. A lot of the drivers don’t know how to do this, but I’ve managed to remember which button it is.

ECB is more annoying though. As ridacards don’t require any manual approval then you have to wait until you reach Zone B. Often the driver says to me, just buy it on the way back or when I get off. Depends on the driver. I like the honesty of the first idea, but someone could easily just not pay it if they were only needing a single back. Though in my case I’m usually wondering around on 123’s etc so I’d still need the Day Ticket.

For this specific case, I wish ECB would just be the same as Lothian Country and therefore require manual approval for the ridacards.

I forgot that Lothian Country have to manually input ridacards, I'm guessing this was in effect once the West Lothian expansion happened as Queensferry always accepted Ridacards

Day tickets are the best value options, no two ways about it! The fact you can travel from Fauldhouse to Dunbar for £8.80 is insane, (however for those who actually want to make that journey, hats off to ya!)

 

[Auld reekie]

Hogmany 44 service for balerno

Thanks for that.

 

[stevenedin]

I forgot that Lothian Country have to manually input ridacards, I'm guessing this was in effect once the West Lothian expansion happened as Queensferry always accepted Ridacards

Day tickets are the best value options, no two ways about it! The fact you can travel from Fauldhouse to Dunbar for £8.80 is insane, (however for those who actually want to make that journey, hats off to ya!)

I intended to do Dunbar to Blackridge back in the old days with the 280 but I only managed to do Dunbar to Whitburn via Edinburgh and Livingston due to the unreliability of the buses at the time.

I think that Lothian Country has always asked for the driver's input on ridacards

When I go to West Lothian I use the ridacard if I'm just doing one journey there and one back but if I do more within West Lothian I use tap tap cap as the ridacard fares don't cap

A network ridacard at £100 per month could be popular

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

I forgot that Lothian Country have to manually input ridacards, I'm guessing this was in effect once the West Lothian expansion happened as Queensferry always accepted Ridacards

Day tickets are the best value options, no two ways about it! The fact you can travel from Fauldhouse to Dunbar for £8.80 is insane, (however for those who actually want to make that journey, hats off to ya!)

Of course there’s no manual input required on the 43, 70 or 71 owing to the fact that they obviously only serve Ridacard areas anyway and are flat fare.

You have to watch when doing the Country Day Ticket with the ridacard. As I assume very few people do it this way, many drivers think it is not valid, but it 100% is. Often it’s just down to the fact they never have anybody doing it, but it’s a bit annoying at times.

 

[Bus9120UK]

BZL progress - only two left to be accounted for which are 781 and 786. Last known location Seafield: 780, 783, 796. Last known location Volvo Cardonald: 777, 791, 797
There was images at Volvo which included two BZLs without registration plates, so these may well be 781 and 786, but this isn't confirmed as they could've been any of the ones now at Seafield.

 

[paul47B]

Is Marine depot open on Boxing Day? Looks like services 21, 25, some 26s, 44, 46, 48 and 49 will be operating out of Marine. Usually just Central open on that day.