Lothian buses

[trainrider1985]

Travelling to Edinburgh at the end of this which routes are interesting and which ones serve some of the tourist places

 

[Blindtraveler]

whats your take on interesting? Tourist wise, there are no direct services rite to the castle, but lots of runs go near - 23, 27, 42, 41, 67. The britania, part of the ocian terminal complex is served by the 11, 22, 34, 35 and36. The last 2 also serve the Scottish parliament. The airport 2 is at the western end of the 35 but if direct travel into the centre is needed then airlink 100 is your bet. For the hillend snowsports centre use 15 and 4, for seaside in portobello or port seton use 26, ensure it says seaton sands if going to port seton. From Waverley bridge the tour busses leav, there are staff there to asist with routes etc.

First scotland east run to East lotìan, livingston and stirling and stagecoach to fife.

Travelling to Edinburgh at the end of this which routes are interesting and which ones serve some of the tourist places

 

[Tom B]

The 15 is an interesting route, which goes up through Morningside then out through the countryside to Penicuik - passing Rosslyn Chapel which is pretty tourists. (NOTE - be sure to catch a 15 not a 15A, which takes a diversion and does not pass through Rosslyn. As well as the service number, check the tramboard).

Avoid FirstBus though, they are a waste of road-space.

 

[Blindtraveler]

here here. I mentioned them to be imparcial but have to agree! Where are you staying?

The 15 is an interesting route, which goes up through Morningside then out through the countryside to Penicuik - passing Rosslyn Chapel which is pretty tourists. (NOTE - be sure to catch a 15 not a 15A, which takes a diversion and does not pass through Rosslyn. As well as the service number, check the tramboard).

Avoid FirstBus though, they are a waste of road-space.

 

[90019]

Travelling to Edinburgh at the end of this which routes are interesting and which ones serve some of the tourist places

Where will you be staying?

There are various routes going out of the city, but it really depends if there's anywhere in particular you want to go.
The 35 is a pretty roundabout route through the city, but it's one of the longer ones, and does go through some interesting places.
The tour buses are good if the weather's nice as well, though I've not been on them for a few years.

The 44 can be interesting going from the city out towards Tranent (I'd advise one going to Pencaitland rather than Tranent, though neither are really places you want to stay too long in), and parts of it out in East Lothian on the A roads can be a bit scary the first time

 

[317 forever]

Route 35 goes along the Royal Mile, linking the Airport, Holyrood, Leith and Ocean Terminal.

Also, if you get on route 23 at Morningside or Bruntsfield and head down the Mound into Hanover Street, you can see the River Forth as it goes down the hill beyond Princes Street. You also see some nice gardens too.

 

[route101]

Once took the 15 out to Penicuik but it went via Bush . Done the 35 to the airport a couple of times as well.

 

[Deerfold]

If you're going for a few days and are likely to be catching the 100 it can be worth getting a week's pass as this covers the 100 whilst the daily ones don't (last time I went to Edinburgh we stayed at a hotel out towards the airport). You can get there a bit slower on non-expresses.

 

[WestCoast]

Lothian Buses really are a cut above other bus firms, I have relatives who live in the Corstophine area and I really appreciate the frequent bus service with clean, modern and comfortable buses. More often than not the drivers are courteous and the buses are ALWAYS well turned-out (take note First, Stagecoach, Arriva, I could go on and on).

ALL for a day ticket of £3.00 - and the locals whinge at that. They really don't know how good they've got it. My local bus service is awful compared to it.

I know most of Edinburgh resent their tram scheme, and I can understand why, but I still think it would be nice to travel by tram instead of a bus (I like everything on rails). You can look at the successful tram systems in Manchester, Sheffield, Croydon and Nottingham and see they have made a difference to the area...

 

[PaulLothian]

Lothian Buses do have very good buses, always more comfortable than rival companies in the area. Sadly they are let down in some parts of the city by poor levels of road maintenance. The best bus in the world will shudder over potholes, and bus lanes do seem to suffer from subsidence. Not Lothian Buses' fault, of course.

 

[jopsuk]

in a roundabout way is sort of is- it is heavy vehicles such as buses especially that cause potholes on roads that are not built to take the passage of many heavy vehicles and aren't maintained sufficiently. The body responsible for building and maintaining the roads is Edinbuurgh City Council, owners of... Lothian Buses.

 

[Eng274]

9 times out of 10, the point at which the front left wheel sits at a bus stop there will be a sag, which if left to its own devices will turn into a pit. I don't see why we can't go the way of America and have huge concrete panels for bus lanes (or even roads in general). when a section is cracked too much, The highway workers just lift the entire panel out, drop a new one in.. it could all be done in 15 minutes! none of this filling in the holes every 4 months nonsense.

St Davids Street is especially horrific just now, if volvo, scania et al want to test their chassis/suspension to destruction, come to Edinburgh!

Lothian do a grand job under testing circumstances, it is very rare to see a shabby-looking lothian bus on the road.

 

[route101]

Yeah Lothian buses are Great , a breath of fresh air compared to First Glasgow ! That said i have had late Lothian buses . Lothian buses are mostly deckers too.

 

[WestCoast]

Yeah Lothian buses are Great , a breath of fresh air compared to First Glasgow ! That said i have had late Lothian buses . Lothian buses are mostly deckers too.

ALL buses in a city environment are going to be late at some point. That's the benefit of metro/light rail systems over buses! I wouldn't mention the T word in Edinburgh though!! :roll:

 

[Blindtraveler]

na, the t word to us here is a bit like dangling a red rag infröt of a bull! They should never have startf them!

ALL buses in a city environment are going to be late at some point. That's the benefit of metro/light rail systems over buses! I wouldn't mention the T word in Edinburgh though!! :roll:

 

[WestCoast]

na, the t word to us here is a bit like dangling a red rag infröt of a bull! They should never have startf them!

If they ever finish them, I am sure everyone will love them. Sheffield and Nottingham have learned to like them. However, that ridiculous TIE wasn't in charge...

 

[90019]

If they ever finish them, I am sure everyone will love them.

I have my doubts.

 

[WestCoast]

I have my doubts.

All they are is a replacement for the 22 bus, but as far as I am concerned anything on rails is better than a bus...

others won't agree.

 

[90019]

All they are is a replacement for the 22 bus

They're a supplement to the 22, though don't quite follow the route.

 

[WestCoast]

They're a supplement to the 22, though don't quite follow the route.

I am fully aware but the Edinburgh Evening News would tell you different...

 

[Blindtraveler]

the 2 examples down south actually play a creddible part in there cities transport network, these white elifants will play a part in causing even more traffic congestion than we already have and will have only 1 main type of passenger - the tourist. The locals woant use them because:
* They will be more expensive than the busess and stop less along there, largely pointless route
* senior/disabled passes wil not be valid meaning that many, not all, but many woant use them even if the thing does stop where they want
* a lot of people wil simply boycot them because they want to prove the so called experts wrong and force them into closure or at the very least some kind of promotional activity

much as I know some aint keen on busses, the money spent so far on this nonsence could have been handed out to the remaining bus opperaters e.g first for new vehicles and the rest ploud into maintaining service levels. Some considderation could even have been given to the size of our council tax bills or the housing stock shortage or the ongoing reffuse workers pay dispute! theres investment, then theres wasting money. And these trams are the latter. On an edinburgh related note, all creddit to NR for bashing on with the Waverley refurbishments during these hard times.

 

[Tom B]

IIRC the fares were to be the same as the buses. I don't know about the OAP/disabled passes but I'd assume they would take them since the current thinking seems to place them above passengers who pay their fare. Unfortunately, this is one of the reasons that fares are going up next month, together with the CEC's insistence on an increased dividend from LRT.

The tramageddon project has caused huge problems for LRT, witness the delays, diversions and constant disruption. Not to mention passenger losses. For instance whilst Princes Street was shut I rarely went into town owing to the disruption. If the tramworks could be abandoned, the cash invested in LRT instead, and FirstBus told to go and waste road-space elsewhere, the city would have a much better transport network.

 

[Eng274]

IIRC the fares were to be the same as the buses. I don't know about the OAP/disabled passes but I'd assume they would take them since the current thinking seems to place them above passengers who pay their fare. Unfortunately, this is one of the reasons that fares are going up next month, together with the CEC's insistence on an increased dividend from LRT.

The tramageddon project has caused huge problems for LRT, witness the delays, diversions and constant disruption. Not to mention passenger losses. For instance whilst Princes Street was shut I rarely went into town owing to the disruption. If the tramworks could be abandoned, the cash invested in LRT instead, and FirstBus told to go and waste road-space elsewhere, the city would have a much better transport network.

First Edinburgh have more or less accepted they can't compete (remember the 'bus wars', and the 70p daysaver they offered? only after 0930 though ) although with the resources they have as a national operator they could very easily step up their game; they just don't want to. This probably explains why investment in buses is few and far between. Brand new deckers in '98, then knackered hand-me-downs til the new delivery in '05 for instance; its not too bad at the moment though, only time will tell how quickly their shocking maintenance (or lack of) starts to kill them. East Lothian routes are the exception though; they get properly sh*t on by First.

They are overpriced, overdue (late) and over here; I wish they'd sell up and get lost, or another operator competes on their monopolised routes.

 

[WestCoast]

IIRC the fares were to be the same as the buses. I don't know about the OAP/disabled passes but I'd assume they would take them since the current thinking seems to place them above passengers who pay their fare.

Yes, I had heard that the fares were to be integrated with the buses, which I'd heard some estimations at a £1.40 single fare (?) and £3.50 day ticket (?) by the time the tram network was due to open (although fares would be higher on the airport section of the route - possibly some form of a supplement).

Still very cheap compared the situation in Manchester - where there are far too many bus operators with different fare scales. If you want to cross the city it can cost a fortune! The multi-operator tickets are very expensive.

The metrolink trams have single fares up to £4.00 for longer journeys. Plus, the day ticket appears to vary in price depending on a variety of factors such as what stop you buy it from:-? It's bizarre..

 

[Blindtraveler]

your rite re plowing cash to where its needed and agree to a point re first. i persöally dont think there bothered with certainly part of there opperation anyway, east lothian passengers wil testify to that, but they do seam to fare better on runs to the central and west lothian areas. at the height of tram madness i cösiddered 6ving having averaged 2 plus hour journeys getting to work. I work in an information giving roll to older people hense why when i last checked i was told oap etc passes would not be valid. Quite rite too if you ask me, if they were then youd get 2 types of tram user - 1 who pays, and 1 who doesnt! What are fares going up too? Missed this one!

IIRC the fares were to be the same as the buses. I don't know about the OAP/disabled passes but I'd assume they would take them since the current thinking seems to place them above passengers who pay their fare. Unfortunately, this is one of the reasons that fares are going up next month, together with the CEC's insistence on an increased dividend from LRT.

The tramageddon project has caused huge problems for LRT, witness the delays, diversions and constant disruption. Not to mention passenger losses. For instance whilst Princes Street was shut I rarely went into town owing to the disruption. If the tramworks could be abandoned, the cash invested in LRT instead, and FirstBus told to go and waste road-space elsewhere, the city would have a much better transport network.

 

[Tom B]

First Edinburgh have more or less accepted they can't compete (remember the 'bus wars', and the 70p daysaver they offered? only after 0930 though ) although with the resources they have as a national operator they could very easily step up their game; they just don't want to. This probably explains why investment in buses is few and far between. Brand new deckers in '98, then knackered hand-me-downs til the new delivery in '05 for instance; its not too bad at the moment though, only time will tell how quickly their shocking maintenance (or lack of) starts to kill them. East Lothian routes are the exception though; they get properly sh*t on by First.

They are overpriced, overdue (late) and over here; I wish they'd sell up and get lost, or another operator competes on their monopolised routes.

There have been rumours about the closure of Musselburgh/Dalkeith depots for a while, and I doubt it is too far away. Their East Lothian services could be replaced by improved 44s/26s/15s, their Midlothian services have broadly gone anyway but I'm sure the 3s/29s/49s etc could take up the slack, leaving IIRC only the funny route between Musselburgh and Penicuik which I believe Midlothian Council were trying to get Lothian to run not so long ago. I don't even know why they bother - for instance today, a Sunday, they have some old Olympian sheds on their services!

As to the fare increase I don't know what it is to be, but it's around the start of April - you will notice that for the past few weeks they have been busy removing all the yellow "DAY TICKET £3" adverts from the front of buses...

 

[Eng274]

There have been rumours about the closure of Musselburgh/Dalkeith depots for a while, and I doubt it is too far away. Their East Lothian services could be replaced by improved 44s/26s/15s, their Midlothian services have broadly gone anyway but I'm sure the 3s/29s/49s etc could take up the slack, leaving IIRC only the funny route between Musselburgh and Penicuik which I believe Midlothian Council were trying to get Lothian to run not so long ago. I don't even know why they bother - for instance today, a Sunday, they have some old Olympian sheds on their services!

I remember not too long ago there was the 77/79/80/86 running from the city to midlothian, they've gradually been scaled down to the point that Dalkeith depot only really looks after the 86, 141 (the Musselburgh - Penicuik) and the random rural services. Lothian could easily fill the gaps though, but East Lothian is a bit more complex since it covers a huge area. Musselburgh recently got some new (well, 03 reg but still new compared to the rest) buses so it's fairly safe for now, but Dalkeith's not looking too clever.

It's odd that the 141 had an olympian, its usually run by Darts, Solars or occasionally a Merc/Prisma - must be toiling if they had to resort to an olympian on a Sunday!

Yep i noticed the day ticket stickers disappearing as well, any idea how much it'll set us back when it goes up?

 

[WestCoast]

As to the fare increase I don't know what it is to be, but it's around the start of April - you will notice that for the past few weeks they have been busy removing all the yellow "DAY TICKET £3" adverts from the front of buses...

Possibly £3.50 or do you think that's too much? Catching up with my local operator at £3.95.

 

[Tom B]

As is often the case with Firstbus, vehicles mean nothing and can be moved on a whim. I think there's one batch of buses at First Mainline which have been moved backwards and forwards between garages about three times, each one being billed in publicity as "NEW BUSES FOR <insert town name>".

Noo, the 44s had a couple of Olympians on!

 

[Eng274]

As is often the case with Firstbus, vehicles mean nothing and can be moved on a whim. I think there's one batch of buses at First Mainline which have been moved backwards and forwards between garages about three times, each one being billed in publicity as "NEW BUSES FOR <insert town name>".

Noo, the 44s had a couple of Olympians on!

Ahh, they're pretty common on the 44, makes you wonder how they get any passengers at all when there's the modern low floor shiny newly repainted nicer-looking lothian 44s.