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Independent Operators in the Lothians

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Blindtraveler

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28 Feb 2011
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I don't personally see the the 253 as a problem at all, generally speaking. Most of the problems, perhaps predictably, are at the Edinburgh end where traffic becomes a serious issue. Although next time they change the buses on this and the x95 I hope they go over something a little more pleasant than the E200.
 
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RailUK Forums

GusB

GusB

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Any further discussion of Borders Buses should go in the appropriate place:

West Coast Motors & Borders Buses

I think we should have a new thread to keep the First Midland bluebird thread clear. Details of the sell off can be viewed here: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=130883&page=11 * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bordersbuses/ * Twitter: https://twitter.com/bordersbuses * Website...
www.railforums.co.uk
 
I

iij

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Edinburgh
FlybeDash8Q400 said:
Prentice Coaches are one of the best operators around and given their close family ties, I can’t see them giving the business up for a long time, if ever.

Keep the decent rapport the two have and it will all work rather nicely. It’s a stark contrast to areas where aggressive competition exists. East Lothian is very well served across the board in my opinion.
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I agree, though wasn't Eve Coaches family-run as well?
 
C

CraigLockhart

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Saw a Citylink coach on Edinburgh Coach Lines 13 service tonight in Ravelston Dykes. Does this happen a lot?
 
LothianBusesPh

LothianBusesPh

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Edinburgh
CSB0241 said:
Since ECL sold one of their Evolutions, it has been a semi-frequent occurrence. It never happens more than once a week though on the offhand it does happen.
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They sold them both and they are sitting at a storage place in Joppa until they find a buyer.
 
B

Blindtraveler

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I would imagine the only people missing the evolutions are those who find climbing on board, a couch and disembarking from it again. Somewhat of a challenge. Given however, that a percentage of passengers on this route will be in that category. It seemed a rather silly decision to offload them. However, they were dreadful buses and I don't think the drivers like them and indeed not sure if they were compliant with the incoming emissions regs were they
 
CSB0241

CSB0241

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Does anyone have a full list of SD Travel’s public service buses? I’ve being trying to find one for a while with little to no avail.
 
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TheEastCoaster

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26 Jun 2018
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Just thought I'd start this forum back up since the last one closed unexpectedly.

Also because I wanted to run this by someone, does anyone know what route the 67 is by HCL? I tried googling it, but there is no trace of such a route online, any help would be appreciated!

Image shows HCL 67 handwritten on Sandwick Place bus stop board
 

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Scotrail344Lad

Scotrail344Lad

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HCL Currently Operate 4 Routes.

2A - Broxburn/Uphall Town Runner
2B - Broxburn/Uphall Town Runner
68 - Clermiston Circular
69 - Portobello Circular

As Far as I know they do not operate a service 67. Maybe a old route?
 
T

TheEastCoaster

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Scotrail344Lad said:
HCL Currently Operate 4 Routes.

2A - Broxburn/Uphall Town Runner
2B - Broxburn/Uphall Town Runner
68 - Clermiston Circular
69 - Portobello Circular

As Far as I know they do not operate a service 67. Maybe a old route?
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This was put up quite recently, this and at Haymarket, which is why I found it very odd, the only source for a 67 route I can find is the old Lothian service Bush - Hanover Street.

Was there not also an old 67 service that ran between Waterloo Place and Westside Plaza via Ratho? doubt it will be the same service.
 
V

Volvodart

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12 Jun 2010
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TheEastCoaster said:
There was nothing there which made it all the more odd, my last resort was to teach out to HCL but I figured this forum was the best shout.
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There is this from next week:-

Climb on board from Monday 31 August
A new direct bus service connecting Edinburgh city centre with the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) will launch on Monday 31 August.

Visitors to EICA Ratho will now be able to access the venue via public transport for the first time – following years of campaigning for a direct link with the city of Edinburgh and the village of Ratho.

Operating 7 days a week, the new bus will run between EICA and Waterloo Place with stops at Haymarket Station, Hermiston Gait and Ratho village.
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www.edinburghleisure.co.uk

EICA Ratho Bus Service 67 | Edinburgh Leisure

Climb on board from Monday 31 August A new direct bus service connecting Edinburgh city centre with the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) will launch on Monday 31 August. Visitors to EICA Ratho will now be able to access the venue via public transport for the first time – following…
www.edinburghleisure.co.uk www.edinburghleisure.co.uk
 
SoloSR334022

SoloSR334022

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Dechmont, West Lothian, UK
Volvodart said:
There is this from next week:-



www.edinburghleisure.co.uk

EICA Ratho Bus Service 67 | Edinburgh Leisure

Climb on board from Monday 31 August A new direct bus service connecting Edinburgh city centre with the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) will launch on Monday 31 August. Visitors to EICA Ratho will now be able to access the venue via public transport for the first time – following…
www.edinburghleisure.co.uk www.edinburghleisure.co.uk
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I can definitely see this functioning more of Ratho to Edinburgh bus rather than serving the EICA.
 
SoloSR334022

SoloSR334022

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Location
Dechmont, West Lothian, UK
On another subject, with the subsequent Lothian Country service changes, I do see the SD Travel 31 losing patronage between Uphall and Livingston as having compared the two timetables it appears the X19 departs 1-2 mins after the 31 on most afternoon journeys. I understand the LC have tried to interwork the service elsewhere but on an hourly frequency it does seem a bit anti-climactic, although I'm not sure how the 72, E19 and 902 fit in to that.
 
T

TheEastCoaster

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SoloSR334022 said:
I can definitely see this functioning more of Ratho to Edinburgh bus rather than serving the EICA.
Click to expand...

Agreed, still at least the mystery is solved, wonder why they went through the effort to label the stops before officially announcing this?

Fantastic news on it being limited stops though, wonder what route it will take from Haymarket to Hermiston, and then Hermiston to Ratho.

SoloSR334022 said:
On another subject, with the subsequent Lothian Country service changes, I do see the SD Travel 31 losing patronage between Uphall and Livingston as having compared the two timetables it appears the X19 departs 1-2 mins after the 31 on most afternoon journeys. I understand the LC have tried to interwork the service elsewhere but on an hourly frequency it does seem a bit anti-climactic, although I'm not sure how the 72, E19 and 902 fit in to that.
Click to expand...

Is the 31 a well used service? I haven't used it before but I wonder if it gets enough usage giving it's route.
 
paravostok

paravostok

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TheEastCoaster said:
Agreed, still at least the mystery is solved, wonder why they went through the effort to label the stops before officially announcing this?

Fantastic news on it being limited stops though, wonder what route it will take from Haymarket to Hermiston, and then Hermiston to Ratho.



Is the 31 a well used service? I haven't used it before but I wonder if it gets enough usage giving it's route.
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Whenever I see it its usually pretty decently filled, I've gotten on it once or twice but only for short bits like St John's to the centre, nornally a decent chunk of folk on board, admittedly not sure when heading towards linlithgow/bathgate
 
O

Observer

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paravostok said:
Whenever I see it its usually pretty decently filled, I've gotten on it once or twice but only for short bits like St John's to the centre, nornally a decent chunk of folk on board, admittedly not sure when heading towards linlithgow/bathgate
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Considering it takes just over an hour to get there from start to finish you're not likely to get anyone using it end to end unless it's the only bus you can get to your destination.

I am sure it also ran until late at night and on Sundays until a few years ago as well. No doubt another victim of the pandemic and lack of council funding.

Also regarding the new 67 I am sure I passed by a 26 plate Sprinter in HcL's yard fairly recently so perhaps it will be used for that? No branding or any vinyls on it currently.
 
B

Bus9120UK

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I wanted to update on this whenever it was mentioned in the Transport & Environment committee meetings but there was no available threads (or so I thought).
It is indeed the Ratho to Edinburgh trial service running for 6 months at the moment. The first round of tendering didn't end up delivering any results, this was after a second round which, at the time, they said was confident would be able to deliver some level of service. Clearly we have that now, an hourly service with a minibus. It was the predictable option in my opinion, and I certainly hope it works out.
TheEastCoaster said:
Fantastic news on it being limited stops though, wonder what route it will take from Haymarket to Hermiston, and then Hermiston to Ratho.
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Direct via A720 then A8 into Edinburgh. Hermiston to Ratho is the same as the 70, other than extending a bit further to Lost Shore and EICA Ratho.
The direct route is partly also to avoid competing with existing bus services along any of these stretches.
 
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Scotrail344Lad

Scotrail344Lad

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Bus9120UK said:
I wanted to update on this whenever it was mentioned in the Transport & Environment committee meetings but there was no available threads (or so I thought).
It is indeed the Ratho to Edinburgh trial service running for 6 months at the moment. The first round of tendering didn't end up delivering any results, this was after a second round which, at the time, they said was confident would be able to deliver some level of service. Clearly we have that now, an hourly service with a minibus. It was the predictable option in my opinion, and I certainly hope it works out.

Direct via A720 then A8 into Edinburgh. Hermiston to Ratho is the same as the 70, other than extending a bit further to Lost Shore and EICA Ratho.
The direct route is partly also to avoid competing with existing bus services along any of these stretches.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that insightful view.

I also have a question - Do SD Travel normally use Mellor Stratas on the 5 (Bathgate Runner)?
 
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