West Lothian buses

[Jordan Adam]

Do we know how EX1 and EX2 are doing in terms of pax?

See post #2833. I doubt much has changed since Monday.

 

[SpeedbirdA350]

See post #2833. I doubt much has changed since Monday.

Thanks, No idea how I missed that post!

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Just gave the X17 a try all the way out to Livingston. Not a bad route but had a few thoughts on the way down there

* It’s a nice route, enjoyed the run all the way to the Fastlink, but if I was to take an bus to Livingston from Edinburgh again, i’d Stick to the X27/X28 as it’s much faster to get out the city with that route.
(Don’t know if it’s because there’s more stops in Edinburgh on the X17/X18 corridor which is not a bad thing for locals but at least with the X27/X28 you can get yourself to the edge of Sighthill in 10-15 minutes and from there it’s an easy breeze)

* It has a fair loading of passengers along the route, even in Edinburgh, and half of them even stayed on beyond the city, and within Broxburn it got better

* Found the route via Craigshill to be a bit of a time killer to be honest, I’ve noted that this corridor is already served by 3 other services already counting the 281 which runs the same route as the X17 to Loganlea, and honestly I don’t know if I’m a minority in this because I obviously don’t live in West Lothian but would it not be better to omit that area and continue on the Fastlink to the centre? You’d save yourself at least 10 minutes.

(The one benefit I could think of the X17 in Craigshill is the link to Broxburn, since it already has a link to the City anyway and The West Calder corridor, would it not be benefital to extend the 281 to Broxburn after St Johns Hospital, since it would create a unique link and not be a copy of the X27/X28 to the deans)

Overall it was a nice route, always enjoy going past Ingilston on the bus, just abit longer than it needs to be and a little slower to Livingston compared to the X27/X28 but it’s not a turn off completely! I would definitely use this service again at somepoint

 

[Darklord8899]

Daily capping being introduced on 43/X43 from tomorrow (Friday 19th July)
(Announced on the Lothian Country Facebook page)

6 hrs ·
If you're travelling on our service 43 tomorrow, you could be the first to try the new contactless capping system!

This will give you the best value price for all the journeys you make in one day – only available on service 43/X43 (for now!)

Get tapping

 

[overthewater]

This speaks for itself, as someone did say the smaller companies would cut back:

PM0003030/5 Cancelled
SAMUEL JAMES DOUGLAS
Route: Eastfield Church Street to Bathgate, King Street Station via Harthill, Blackridge, Armadale
Service number: 150 ()
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 29 Aug 2019

 

[TheEastCoaster]

PM0003030/5 Cancelled
SAMUEL JAMES DOUGLAS
Route: Eastfield Church Street to Bathgate, King Street Station via Harthill, Blackridge, Armadale
Service number: 150 ()
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 29 Aug 2019

For a second I thought this was another new LCB service, though if they were to hit Harthill I would be surprised they extended the X18 or a new service altogether

 

[DunsBus]

PM0003030/5 Cancelled
SAMUEL JAMES DOUGLAS
Route: Eastfield Church Street to Bathgate, King Street Station via Harthill, Blackridge, Armadale
Service number: 150 ()
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 29 Aug 2019

At least LCB's venture is having one positive effect: it's saving West Lothian Council a few bob in subsidies. This is one of the subsided routes that's been binned by WLC as a result of the competition between LCB and First.

As an aside, I saw an X27 and X17 at the westbound Waverley Mall stop yesterday. The X27 had two passengers on board - one upstairs and one downstairs. The X17 was carrying fresh air. By contrast the First X23 that I saw, half an hour earlier, had a good number of passengers on board.

Read into that what you will!

 

[Jordan Adam]

For a second I thought this was another new LCB service, though if they were to hit Harthill I would be surprised they extended the X18 or a new service altogether

Extending the X18 would be totally pointless. Extending the 275 (or even the 287) would be the better option.

 

[Observer]

150 was commercial, not subsidised.

 

[overthewater]

150 was commercial, not subsidised.

Bingo, and I take it, the bus used was interworked with the subsidised routes which are now about to disappear? The council has no money to operate Blackridge - Harthill daytime service, the best option might be to have taxibus service? like on others part the area?

 

[SpeedbirdA350]

Do you think Bo'ness will ever be covered by LCB?

 

[ScotRail158725]

Do you think Bo'ness will ever be covered by LCB?

in the future possibly, im expecting them to do a Skylink route out to Livingston

 

[Darklord8899]

Id like to see something along the lines of
Ex4 2 am trips to Edinburgh, 2 pm trips from Edinburgh
Probably starting Bo'mains Road via Dean Road, through Grahamsdyke to Ecline Corner, then A90 and as 43 to St. Andrew Sq.

Stopping pattern a.m. : all stops Bo'ness to Ecline Corner, then Ferrymuir Tesco, non-stop via A90 to Cramond Brig, Barnton, Blackhall (shops), Holiday Inn, Orchard Brae, West End, St.Andrew Sq
P.m.: stops at West End, Orchard Brae, Holiday Inn, Blackhall, Barnton, Cramond Brig, non stop to Ferrymuir Tesco, Ecline Corner then all stops.

Of course, this is all lovely on paper and in a world of a bus enthusiast......however the congestion faced along A90 corridor pretty much makes it a non-starter....
A dedicated bus lane with priority lights from West end to Ferrymuir would be a game changer imo.....but that ain't gonna happen!

 

[SpeedbirdA350]

Id like to see something along the lines of
Ex4 2 am trips to Edinburgh, 2 pm trips from Edinburgh
Probably starting Bo'mains Road via Dean Road, through Grahamsdyke to Ecline Corner, then A90 and as 43 to St. Andrew Sq.

Stopping pattern a.m. : all stops Bo'ness to Ecline Corner, then Ferrymuir Tesco, non-stop via A90 to Cramond Brig, Barnton, Blackhall (shops), Holiday Inn, Orchard Brae, West End, St.Andrew Sq
P.m.: stops at West End, Orchard Brae, Holiday Inn, Blackhall, Barnton, Cramond Brig, non stop to Ferrymuir Tesco, Ecline Corner then all stops.

Of course, this is all lovely on paper and in a world of a bus enthusiast......however the congestion faced along A90 corridor pretty much makes it a non-starter....
A dedicated bus lane with priority lights from West end to Ferrymuir would be a game changer imo.....but that ain't gonna happen!

The A90 needs a park and ride ASAP.

in the future possibly, im expecting them to do a Skylink route out to Livingston

It would need to be faster than the 600 if it were on a similar route.

 

[Observer]

Do you think Bo'ness will ever be covered by LCB?

Even if it's an EH postcode it's not West Lothian Council.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Do you think Bo'ness will ever be covered by LCB?

If it was a part of West Lothian I would be positive they would consider it, but much like Ferrymuir I’m doubtful they will extend beyond the region, heck even the thought of Harthill which is 50% West Lothian and 50% North Lancashire is a gamble.

Then again take Border Buses 253, it runs beyond the border slightly into England, if they can get away with it I don’t see how Lothian can extend a little beyond the region.

Maybe when LCB run a 38 style service via Kirkliston to Linlithgow they could extend it to Bo’ness!

in the future possibly, im expecting them to do a Skylink route out to Livingston

I’m very skeptical of how this would work with the two different fare zones clashing (LCB/Airport)

Currently Livi to the City Zone is £3.70 single, and City Zone to the Airport is £4.50 single.

As nice as it would be to see another Lothian brand in West Lothian I’m unsure about how they would intergrate Skylink. Maybe have the normal LCB fares on the service as far as Ratho Station/Ingilston Road and then run non stop to the Airport Fare Zone? Even if it means omitting the Park and Ride! Who knows.

 

[SpeedbirdA350]

Even if it's an EH postcode it's not West Lothian Council.

While correct, it surely is not a major problem. While LCB is named Lothian, is there anything legally stopping LCB from doing that? I don't think there is?

 

[Fryschocream]

LB has to have the express permission of the shareholders to beyond the boundaries of the old Lothian Region.

 

[overthewater]

The A90 needs a park and ride ASAP.

It does in Fife. However the problems on the A90 are linked to traffic from North Edinburgh heading to maybury etc.

 

[SpeedbirdA350]

LB has to have the express permission of the shareholders to beyond the boundaries of the old Lothian Region.

I don't think the shareholders will say no to possiblity of extra income as long as it has no negitive impact on current services.

It does in Fife. However the problems on the A90 are linked to traffic from North Edinburgh heading to maybury etc.

Yes, which I spoke about on the LB & ECB thread. Lothian don't service it, but you also have folk from the M9/M90 using the A90 to head towards town, so a P&R might help with that. I assume you meaning the Barnton junction? It needs to be looked at properly. A flyover or something would be a good start for there for A90-A90 traffic. Sadly, this is a council thing and not a Lothian thing and I doubt the council would even contemplate such a move even if it would speed up traffic.

 

[Darklord8899]

.....IIRC when Stagecoach took over the 43 (their 40/40A) it was done on the understanding that the council were going to be introducing dedicated bus lane into town and priority lights....this failed to materialise which was one of the reasons Stagecoach axed the service, the unreliability of traffic conditions on the A90 corridor makes it very challenging to a) attract the passengers required to make the service work and b) keep costs running the service at a reasonable level when after someone sneezes there is a 4 hr tailback.
Sadly, I don't see the council spending money on bus priority anytime soon...

 

[overthewater]

The council recycled that same crap plague when Lothian took over the route, nothing new from Edinburgh s.... council. Roads are a disgrace..

 

[Mal]

If it was a part of West Lothian I would be positive they would consider it, but much like Ferrymuir I’m doubtful they will extend beyond the region, heck even the thought of Harthill which is 50% West Lothian and 50% North Lancashire is a gamble..

North LANCASHIRE?? I think you mean Lanarkshire? I know Lothian are ambitious, but still.....................!

 

[oldman]

From a Council report - Public Transport Priority Action Plan Update - June 2019

Traffic modelling shows that if bus lanes were introduced on the A90, delays to vehicles in the general traffic lane would increase significantly. Queues would also
increase at critical junctions which are already at capacity. This may negatively affect the ability of buses to access the lane in the first place and could result in buses experiencing more delay than present.

Because of this, it is not considered feasible to introduce bus lanes on the A90 at present, however, bus priority measures will be considered within the context of a wider regional transport plan.

 

[overthewater]

Maybe the council should just do it, and then implement a number of Bus route development grants schemes with Lothian buses and Stagecoach to provide peak time links. IE: Make Ingliston Park n ride bigger and have 10min service from here to North Edinburgh, plus have direct links from Fife to North Edinburgh, that would get alot of car drivers out of their cars.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

North LANCASHIRE?? I think you mean Lanarkshire? I know Lothian are ambitious, but still.....................!

That’s what I get when I rely on autocorrect I’m doubtful but anything could happen at this point. Especially if they consider Harthill a fully West Lothian town, which it should be, that way it would be a simple extension for the 275

 

[TheEastCoaster]

That’s what I get when I rely on autocorrect I’m doubtful but anything could happen at this point. Especially if they consider Harthill a fully West Lothian town, which it should be, that way it would be a simple extension for the 275

Since the West Lothian border is just at the start of Harthill and the 22 terminates 3 minutes into the village. If Lothian decide to extend the 275 it would be rather interesting day for Lothian to step beyond the land of the unknown

 

[overthewater]

It could get more interesting if lothian bid for spt contract 235/236.

 

[overthewater]

The council cuts in September are only the start, the rest of the services are up for grabs in March 2020....

 

[lastbus]

It could get more interesting if lothian bid for spt contract 235/236.

Doubt they would have any interest plus it was only retendered recently for 7 years was it not?