Madder and white returns

[robertclark125]

There are claims, though no photographic proof yet, that Lothian Buses Volvo B7TL or B9TL 720, has been repainted into madder and white. Is this true?

 

[90019]

It is true.

Eclipse Gemini 720 is a route branded bus for the 3 as well, I've seen photos, but have yet to see it.

IIRC, there will be or already is an Eclipse Urban painted in the new madder livery as well.

 

[driver9000]

It is true.

Eclipse Gemini 720 is a route branded bus for the 3 as well, I've seen photos, but have yet to see it.

IIRC, there will be or already is an Eclipse Urban painted in the new madder livery as well.

This is great news for me as I grew up with madder and white and was not a great fan of the harlequin livery especially the simplified version. Do you have a link to a photo I cant find anything on flickr or fotopic.

 

[90019]

I'm not aware of any online yet, as it was a friend who showed it to me.

Thankfully, it's not the same as the old Madder livery, as that would've looked cr*p on the Geminis, because it was a livery for square buses.

 

[driver9000]

Word on flickr is that Lothian want to keep this repaint a secret for now and are annoyed that enthusiasts have taken photos of it. What did they expect to happen?

Short of keeping 720 under wraps in Seafield works I cant see how they expect to keep a bus repainted into a proper Edinburgh livery a secret.

 

[90019]

Yeah, I was told earlier on that they don't want any photos of it online, which is why you can't find any

 

[driver9000]

They cant really stop anyone posting them though as far as I know Pity I don't get back to Edinburgh as much these days.

 

[90019]

It'll be because of the timetable changes on the 14th, when the Olys on two of the tours are being replaced, and the 100 gets new buses and a new livery.

 

[driver9000]

Ah, so the 14th is a launch date for the revised livery then. I hope they roll it out fleetwide I was never a fan of the harlequin livery when 501-505 were delivered although I prefered the original version to the revised simpler harlequin scheme. Cant wait to see some shots of it although I cant understand why its been out in service if its repaint is in connection with a timetable relaunch.

 

[90019]

Yeah, it seems a bit odd.

I'm interested to see what happens to the Scanias currently on the 100. I wonder if they'll go to the 35, like the Tridents that were on it before, or if they'll just get rid of them.

 

[driver9000]

It will be interesting especially if they did sell them on as they would be the first buses not to be cascaded into the normal fleet for quite some time. The 35 seems a likely choice for them as would the 15 which had the former Airlink Olympians and I think its run with B7TLs now. As I remember the 51 reg Tridents initially ended up on a mix of routes which seemed to be mainly the southern routes, we used to get them a lot on the 31 when it was a mix of step and low floor.

 

[90019]

The 35 would seem the obvious option, as it's where the previous Tridents ended up, and because it runs from Ocean Terminal to the Airport.

It's possible that they'll just get rid of them because they're different to the rest of the fleet, though.

I can't remember if the 15 is Tridents or Geminis since the last Royales were taken out of service.

 

[robertclark125]

Apparently 720 was repainted at Grangemouth. Someone in the LBC has seen photos of it. It's not true madder and white, old style that is. Bit the gold stripe is thicker, and doesnt go the whole way. There are also swoops at the front.

 

[Tom B]

The Airlinks are re-launching on 14th March.

15s are run by Tridents, as the only Geminis that Marine has are the branded ones for 26s.

 

[90019]

The Airlinks are re-launching on 14th March.

Hmm, I would've thought it would make more sense to do it on the same day as the timetable change.
I'm gonna be interested to see the new Gemini 2s they get.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Apparently 720 was repainted at Grangemouth. Someone in the LBC has seen photos of it. It's not true madder and white, old style that is. Bit the gold stripe is thicker, and doesnt go the whole way. There are also swoops at the front.

I think the swoops are probably a good thing, because of the lines of the bus and the route branding, however, we'll have to wait and see.

 

[MCR247]

I assume Madder and white is another way of same Maroon/Brown & White?

 

[90019]

I assume Madder and white is another way of same Maroon/Brown & White?

http://www.freewebs.com/edintrans/Images/DSCF0166.jpg

They were always that clean too

 

[MCR247]

Thats one hellfire bus you chose!

 

[driver9000]

Any photos yet? This bus is proving quite elusive

 

[90019]

The Airlinks are re-launching on 14th March.

This has now been pushed back a week becasue the Geminis aren't ready yet.

Also, the Scanias will be moving to the 35.

The Guide Friday Olympians were replaced last week as well (although at least 2 were out on thursday), and they're now just the Edinburgh Tour buses. Oddly, they've had the side repeaters replaced with the ones from the Geminis.

I've attached a few pics from last weekend, today and last thursday.

 

[robertclark125]

So the bus should've been on the streets by now, from what I was told. Has anyone seen it?

 

[90019]

So the bus should've been on the streets by now, from what I was told. Has anyone seen it?

Nothing yet.

Apparently more have been repainted though.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
There are now photos of the new Airlinks on the Lothian website;

http://www.lothianbuses.com/news/?new-buses-for-airlink-122.html

Personally, I don't really like it.
I mean, when I saw the pics of them in just the base colour, I liked it, and I still like that blue, but I find that the branding just looks tacky, especially compared to the current one.
And, given the choice of a Gemini 2 on the 100, for £3.50, or an ex-airlink Omnicity on the 35 for £1.20, I'd take the Scania any day.
For some reason the new airlinks have power sockets and wifi as well, which seems a bit pointless for a 23 minute journey

 

[jopsuk]

The branding would be less tacky if it didn't have the tag line.

 

[MCR247]

Nothing yet.

Apparently more have been repainted though.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
There are now photos of the new Airlinks on the Lothian website;

http://www.lothianbuses.com/news/?new-buses-for-airlink-122.html

Personally, I don't really like it.
I mean, when I saw the pics of them in just the base colour, I liked it, and I still like that blue, but I find that the branding just looks tacky, especially compared to the current one.
And, given the choice of a Gemini 2 on the 100, for £3.50, or an ex-airlink Omnicity on the 35 for £1.20, I'd take the Scania any day.
For some reason the new airlinks have power sockets and wifi as well, which seems a bit pointless for a 23 minute journey

IMO it'd look better without the orange/red colours that form the kind of swoosh, and '.....blue sky thinking......'. wtf? Our skylink in nottingham hardly ever is used to the Airport, most people just use it like a normal bus.

 

[90019]

Our skylink in nottingham hardly ever is used to the Airport, most people just use it like a normal bus.

Yeah, it's more than double for the airlink over a normal Lothian bus, so they only really get used by people going to the airport.

 

[jopsuk]

It's more than double, but for a journey that takes around half the time (not withstanding going to different parts of the city centre)- 35 takes a tour of some of the most delightful parts of western Edinburgh

 

[driver9000]

I quite like the new Airlink colours, but the lettering leaves something to be desired and the tagline is cringe worthy! My favourite Airlink scheme is the livery applied to the Leyland Olympians which was designed by Ray Stenning.

If I was headed for the Airport though I'd use the 100 over the 35 just for the direct routing of the 100....

 

[90019]

It's more than double, but for a journey that takes around half the time (not withstanding going to different parts of the city centre)- 35 takes a tour of some of the most delightful parts of western Edinburgh

Quite.

But for those not going all the way to the airport, you can just get a 48 or X48 instead, which follow the same route as the 100, except they stop at the park and ride about 1/2 a mile before the airport.

 

[MCR247]

Was the x48 where you used your omnicity?

 

[90019]

Was the x48 where you used your omnicity?

What?

We had a single Omnilink, which was used on the X48 during the peak, and the Airlinks currently use a fleet of Omnicitys (Which I'm looking forward to seeing on the 35 )


Apparently after the change, you may still see an omnicity on the 100, as 2 of them are being kept in case of anything going wrong with the Gemini 2s.