Ember: Electric coach service

[Spsf3232]

Oban has been short staffed since the start.

They had Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen drivers in hotels there 2 weeks ago working from Oban to cover duties.

Same has been for Fort William, Inverness, Aberdeen and Glasgow. At one point I know Glasgow was down to one driver for the E5 to cover 14 duties a week and they couldn't staff it. They can't keep drivers as the contract they offer for 40 hours doesn't pay any overtime for any shifts you are on rota for that take you over the 40 hours. Heard of drivers working 50 hours plus a week with a simple promise of the time being given back or paid at the end of a 12 week period however drivers want paid for what they work. Every other company manages it but Ember can't. The only saving thing from this is last minute overtime paid between 1.2x and 2x rates which will be paid in your next week's wage on top however the chances of 2x rates are slim as there is a select few who seem to get it all and travel all around Scotland for little extra.

Until this issue with the contracts is addressed then it will always be an issue with recruitment.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

I am 6ft 4 and chunky , honestly ember are the coach's where I have any leg room, I had to get off a city link coach couple of years ago as I was in so much pain due to lack of leg room

The quality of the buses on that Stagecoach route are not great. I recall struggling to fit in the seats, I'm not particularly tall or that big!

 

[route101]

Interesting as always to see where they go next. I have heard mixed experiences from Staff. Perhaps its a cost issue with conditions. I have worked in small firms and they never offered great benefits , pay and holidays etc.

 

[kkong]

Good: The current network is disgrace, needs a good kick up the backside. If you look at the press release they wanted to have Fife to Tayside route first.

Could you please provide a link to this press release?

 

[overthewater]

They want North east fife route to Angus.

EXCLUSIVE: Ember reveals hopes for further Tayside and Fife expansion with new bus routes

The all-electric bus operator has hinted it could soon launch new services for Perth, Angus and north-east Fife.

www.thecourier.co.uk

 

[Deerfold]

They want North east fife route to Angus.

EXCLUSIVE: Ember reveals hopes for further Tayside and Fife expansion with new bus routes

The all-electric bus operator has hinted it could soon launch new services for Perth, Angus and north-east Fife.

www.thecourier.co.uk

I think it's the "First" part of your claim that's in doubt.
The article talks of hoping to do this by the end of next year.

 

[overthewater]

The date of the piece is " 8 November 2025" which would mean the end of next year would be December 2026 ie 4 months away

 

[Deerfold]

The date of the piece is " 8 November 2025" which would mean the end of next year would be December 2026 ie 4 months away

It's still full of "hopes to" and "possible routes", not any sort of firm plan - and being that long ago, things may have changed. It's certainly not a press release of their plans.

 

[Volvodart]

It's still full of "hopes to" and "possible routes", not any sort of firm plan - and being that long ago, things may have changed. It's certainly not a press release of their plans.

Since then they have received funding for another 100 electric coaches to be used in services within Scotland.

 

[overthewater]

It's still full of "hopes to" and "possible routes", not any sort of firm plan - and being that long ago, things may have changed. It's certainly not a press release of their plans.

Oh well they better just Shut Kirkcaldy down then, and sack the drivers the already recruited at location.

 

[Deerfold]

Oh well they better just Shut Kirkcaldy down then, and sack the drivers the already recruited at location.

There's no need to be rude. You said there had been a press release of their plans and then linked to a newspaper article with some things they hoped to do.

 

[Sealink]

Had a nice journey on Ember from Edinburgh City Centre at 5am this week.

The bus at my stop was the 0421hrs to Fort William. Driver said it was rarely busy but the return journey was usually very busy.

My coach arrived (E9) - one driver drove the coach in from Dundee as the E1 and mentioned that 53 passengers had alighted at Edinburgh Airport - no one alighted at George Street.
Another driver operated the E9 as far as Corstorphine, then he swapped with another driver to take us to Inverness.

Meanwhile another Ember arrived at around 0430hrs and was a absolutely rammed, must have been almost fully booked. Not sure where it came from.


Meanwhile the E6 from Inverness to Thurso at 1059hrs had a vague smell of urine on board.

 

[cf111]

Meanwhile the E6 from Inverness to Thurso at 1059hrs had a vague smell of urine on board

I had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago in the opposite direction, I was on SG72 NCD I believe.

 

[Sealink]

Did two little journeys within Caithness and pleased to say no odd smells...

 

[Jordan1296]

Ember have announced details of their E20 service (Glasgow to Edinburgh Airport) from 9th September.

News

Find out what's new at Ember

www.ember.to

 

[route101]

Ember have announced details of their E20 service (Glasgow to Edinburgh Airport) from 9th September.

News

Find out what's new at Ember

www.ember.to

A fair bit cheaper than the AIR service, I wonder what will Citylink do in response.

 

[SoloSR334022]

Ember have announced details of their E20 service (Glasgow to Edinburgh Airport) from 9th September.

News

Find out what's new at Ember

www.ember.to

There's a typo in the announcement, the bus will serve Chapelhall not Calderwood.

 

[Strathtay 260]

There's a typo in the announcement, the bus will serve Chapelhall not Calderwood.

flagged and fixed

 

[Jordan1296]

A fair bit cheaper than the AIR service, I wonder what will Citylink do in response.

Have been awaiting this announcement for a while. I’m flying from Edinburgh in October and CityLink were quoting £55 return for 2. Ember will be a fair saving in comparison!

 

[Strathtay 260]

Have been awaiting this announcement for a while. I’m flying from Edinburgh in October and CityLink were quoting £55 return for 2. Ember will be a fair saving in comparison!

£25 cheaper with Ember!

 

[route101]

Have been awaiting this announcement for a while. I’m flying from Edinburgh in October and CityLink were quoting £55 return for 2. Ember will be a fair saving in comparison!

Might be a wee bit cheaper booking on Megabus.com, not sure how strict drivers are with getting on a specific service.

 

[Buzby]

£25 cheaper with Ember!

Don’t worry, that’ll be quickly be spent with the new Tourist Tax in the city assuming accommodation is booked.

 

[paravostok]

Interestingly originally it said it would not stop at Heartlands, but now is saying it will, wonder why they changed their minds?

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

Interestingly originally it said it would not stop at Heartlands, but now is saying it will, wonder why they changed their minds?

Excellent that it will be stopping there, Got to Whitburn quite regularly and with the X18 terminating there from next month get a wee hurl along into the Main Street, £3.95 single from Glasgow to Heartlands is an absolute bargain

 

[Sealink]

Have been awaiting this announcement for a while. I’m flying from Edinburgh in October and CityLink were quoting £55 return for 2. Ember will be a fair saving in comparison!

How much ?.

 

[gingerheid]

Ember have announced details of their E20 service (Glasgow to Edinburgh Airport) from 9th September.

News

Find out what's new at Ember

www.ember.to

Chapelhall's service just went up in the world!

It's a shame that our public transport network and infrastructure are as fragmented as they are. There's a remarkable opportunity for park and ride services here, but of course it's not in anyone's interests to build car parks for services that might disappear.

 

[paravostok]

Excellent that it will be stopping there, Got to Whitburn quite regularly and with the X18 terminating there from next month get a wee hurl along into the Main Street, £3.95 single from Glasgow to Heartlands is an absolute bargain

Same haha, very glad! especially given the 902 takes over an hour from the same stop vs the e20 taking 34 minutes. My only gripe is that the X18 terminates actually at the shops, so the walk isn't that much shorter.

 

[overthewater]

Ember will deffo pick up a lot of passengers at Heartlands. Oddly they have been promising a park n ride at location for donkey years and there was talk of running the 900s in there. It seems the Government has stopped caring about park n rides.

 

[Sealink]

Might be a wee bit cheaper booking on Megabus.com, not sure how strict drivers are with getting on a specific service.

Megabus: £39.48 return for 2, on random dates I checked.
Megabus do the same thing as Citylink - you can book a specific service, but your ticket acts as a standby on another service on the same route in the same direction.

I am pretty sure we have Ember to thank for that, what with them being incredibly flexibile with amendments and cancellations.

EDIT - I see on Ember the cost for 2 will be £30.20!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Aug 2026 ==

Was there ever an Ember E2 and E13 route?

 

[38291018]

Was there ever an Ember E2 and E13 route?

Yes to both. E2 was dundee to Edinburgh. Not sure if it was a variation of E1 or if ran E1 there and E2 back or something as I think it's been mentioned in the forum before but I'm not 100% sure. E13 was a more recent addition and loss from Edinburgh to Lost Shore Surf Resort (started and ended in 2026)