West Lothian buses

[gavin1985]

Ratho on the other hand will be at a loss with the lack of Lothian service, I can at least see the residents adjusting to changing over at Ratho station to an X24/X25/X38

Surely those at Ratho Station still have Lothian country X17, X18 and X38 to/from Edinburgh? And very possibly 275 to the Gyle/Edinburgh Park.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Surely those at Ratho Station still have Lothian country X17, X18 and X38 to/from Edinburgh? And very possibly 275 to the Gyle/Edinburgh Park.

Well yeah that is true but I was referring to the actual village losing out on a Lothian service, with it now being left to First and Horsburgh

 

[delt1c]

Bring passenger transport back to goverment (as in SBG), stop private companies milking the passenger in order to pay shareholder dividends and run it for the public and the countries economy. This would see a potential growth in use, a reduction in private car usage, greenhouse gases reduced and a major growth in the overall economy. I expect the usual replies to quote how the private sector has invested in public transport, however with the correct controls and investment this could be done by central goverment and the profits returned to the system for the people ( not shareholders) to enjoy

 

[gavin1985]

Well yeah that is true but I was referring to the actual village losing out on a Lothian service, with it now being left to First and Horsburgh

Ah fair enough point, I only used the 63 a handful of times in the month and its at 650am from Sighthill, so I wouldn't really know what the passenger numbers are like throughout the day.
That being said, could LC not extend the 275 so it goes up to Calder Road and then along the same route as the X27/X28? Could replace some of the 20/63 passengers?

 

[Journeyman]

Bring passenger transport back to goverment (as in SBG), stop private companies milking the passenger in order to pay shareholder dividends and run it for the public and the countries economy. This would see a potential growth in use, a reduction in private car usage, greenhouse gases reduced and a major growth in the overall economy. I expect the usual replies to quote how the private sector has invested in public transport, however with the correct controls and investment this could be done by central goverment and the profits returned to the system for the people ( not shareholders) to enjoy

Whilst deregulation has brought about a lot of problems, you're harking back to a time when the bus industry was in terminal decline, and doing nothing was not an option. Simply returning to a structure which failed badly won't automatically solve anything.

I think network-wide tendering with integrated ticketing, on a TfL model, would work well. The SNP seemed very keen on doing this, until Brian Souter gave them lots of money, and then it never got mentioned again. Hmm. I wonder why?

 

[delt1c]

Whilst deregulation has brought about a lot of problems, you're harking back to a time when the bus industry was in terminal decline, and doing nothing was not an option. Simply returning to a structure which failed badly won't automatically solve anything.

I think network-wide tendering with integrated ticketing, on a TfL model, would work well. The SNP seemed very keen on doing this, until Brian Souter gave them lots of money, and then it never got mentioned again. Hmm. I wonder why?

yes it was in terminal decline, however that was then , not now. lets run public transport for the public and the economy will benifit which will will result in growth. there is good and bad in the past but we should build on the good for not only our future but future generations. Should workers drive from Livingston and surounding areas to Inglistion and Sighthil P&R or should we have decent afordable public transport to out lying areas.

 

[Journeyman]

yes it was in terminal decline, however that was then , not now. lets run public transport for the public and the economy will benifit which will will result in growth. there is good and bad in the past but we should build on the good for not only our future but future generations. Should workers drive from Livingston and surounding areas to Inglistion and Sighthil P&R or should we have decent afordable public transport to out lying areas.

I agree we need to improve things - however, nationalising public transport is a complex issue that won't necessarily change things for the better, at least not on its own.

The issue with people driving to work is a tough nut to crack - some people will always choose to drive, regardless of how good public transport is.

 

[PaulMc7]

I agree we need to improve things - however, nationalising public transport is a complex issue that won't necessarily change things for the better, at least not on its own.

The issue with people driving to work is a tough nut to crack - some people will always choose to drive, regardless of how good public transport is.

Agree so much with the last part. Some people wouldn't be seen dead on a bus sadly and it's the same in Glasgow regarding how good a bus is with people not using it. I can get 12 express buses an hour from where I stay and they only take 15/20 mins max into Glasgow city centre yet that wouldn't be good enough for some people

 

[Stan Drews]

yes it was in terminal decline, however that was then , not now. lets run public transport for the public and the economy will benifit which will will result in growth. there is good and bad in the past but we should build on the good for not only our future but future generations. Should workers drive from Livingston and surounding areas to Inglistion and Sighthil P&R or should we have decent afordable public transport to out lying areas.

The ownership issue is largely a red herring. The major problem is congestion, and the lack of adequate public transport funding. Address those issues, and vast improvements could be achieved, regardless of who owns the bus operators.

 

[Baileygirl]

I have seen a few 69/20 plate Lothian shuttle vans driving about Livingston. More investment into the supposed to be loss making LC.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I have seen a few 69/20 plate Lothian shuttle vans driving about Livingston. More investment into the supposed to be loss making LC.

I'd hardly say them buying a few vans means much if anything.

 

[CN04NRJ]

I'd hardly say them buying a few vans means much if anything.

There's 69/20 plate vans at every garage, so I don't think it's specifically an investment in LCB anyway.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

That being said, could LC not extend the 275 so it goes up to Calder Road and then along the same route as the X27/X28? Could replace some of the 20/63 passengers?

I thought that originally too, I think a while back before the X18 was extended to Whitburn and the 281/X17 was introduced I suggested that the 275 should extend to Edinburgh as via the 22 route from Hermiston Gait, however now I highly doubt it with its new extension to Bathgate or it’s daytime curtail to Gyle Centre.

Since we were talking about tenders (20/63/68) whatever happened to the old 64 tender? Silverknowes to Edinburgh Park?

 

[Driver362]

I have seen a few 69/20 plate Lothian shuttle vans driving about Livingston. More investment into the supposed to be loss making LC.

Every depot has new shuttle vans. And I very much doubt there bought. More likely leased.

 

[overthewater]

Since we were talking about tenders (20/63/68) whatever happened to the old 64 tender? Silverknowes to Edinburgh Park?

Scrapped because no one used it, Strangly when Lothian had it IE 24 it had passengers but E&M like aways chased them away..

 

[Jordan Adam]

Every depot has new shuttle vans. And I very much doubt there bought. More likely leased.

My thoughts too, fairly certain most big operators just lease their company cars and vans these days. Especially given how fast the vehicles come and go!

 

[ScotRail158725]

on the topic of tenders, what other routs are tendered in edinburgh? 20/38/63/68 are the only ones i know of but unsure about the rest

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

Service 13 that Edinburgh Coach Lines have

 

[Driver362]

My thoughts too, fairly certain most big operators just lease their company cars and vans these days. Especially given how fast the vehicles come and go!

I think this is the case Jordan. They certainly rack up huge millage very quickly and the obvious wear and tear or more commenly known as abuse!

 

[Volvodart]

First West Lothian are getting 69397-400, but they might well be repainted first out of their previous livery.

 

[Jordan Adam]

First West Lothian are getting 62397-400, but they might well be repainted first out of their previous livery.

I assume you mean 69397-400?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I assume you mean 63297-400?

They're getting 104 buses?

 

[Volvodart]

69397 corrected!

 

[Jordan Adam]

They're getting 104 buses?

69397 corrected!

Oops

I meant to say 69397-400!

 

[Jordan Adam]

Surprised this wasn't posted already...

https://lothiancountry.co.uk/reduction-in-lothiancountry-services

Reduction in Lothiancountry services


Lothiancountry has today (Thursday 19 March) announced its intention to introduce a reduction in services across Edinburgh and West Lothian, subject to approval from the Traffic Commissioner, due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

These service reductions would take effect from Monday 23rd March. Lothiancountry will continue to operate vital links and will keep customers up to date with the latest information as it becomes available, with a detailed update on service levels for next week issued tomorrow.

Nigel Serafini, Commercial Director at Lothiancountry, said: “These are extraordinary circumstances we are operating in and teams from across our business are working tirelessly to put plans in place as to how best to deal with this fast-changing situation. While the priority of maintaining services is of paramount importance, as the situation develops, we now need to factor in the impact on staffing levels being experienced.

“By introducing a reduced service from Monday, we are aiming to ensure we can continue to provide vital links across the city for those who rely on our services. We would encourage customers to plan their journeys in advance using our mobile app or website and follow our social media channels for updates.”

The Lothian app offers journey planning tools and real-time service updates, all integrated with Google Maps. Following a recent upgrade, it is also now available in 11 languages. It can be downloaded from tfeapp.com.

What's not helpful is that the revised timetables are nowhere to be found on the LC website, so you have to go on to the Lothian Website which doesn't show LC routes in full for some reason (for example the Fauldhouse leg of the X17 is missing and there's random journeys on the 280) to view the timetables.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

So with the service being reduced across the Lothians with lesser passengers is it really that much different for LCB normally?

 

[Journeyman]

So with the service being reduced across the Lothians with lesser passengers is it really that much different for LCB normally?

That's a really unhelpful comment at a time like this.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

That's a really unhelpful comment at a time like this.

Was just a joke, i know a lot of folk like to poke a jab at LCB and don’t get me wrong I’m a LCB supporter all the way but just thought i’d throw a little humour to help brighten everyone’s day, I didn’t mean it

 

[ScotRail158725]

Was just a joke, i know a lot of folk like to poke a jab at LCB and don’t get me wrong I’m a LCB supporter all the way but just thought i’d throw a little humour to help brighten everyone’s day, I didn’t mean it

no need to apologise for something that was quite clearly a joke

 

[PaulMc7]

no need to apologise for something that was quite clearly a joke

I second that, the more jokes the merrier right now. We could all do with it