Lothian Group discussion (Lothian City, Lothian Country Bus and East Coast Buses)

[route101]

I used the X40 at the weekend. It was a black seated gemimi, are these 10 plates?

 

[Bus9120UK]

I used the X40 at the weekend. It was a black seated gemimi, are these 10 plates?

One of 841-850, they were 57 plates when new and now have private plates fitted. Refurbished for Lothian Motorcoaches use but didn't last that way.

 

[route101]

One of 841-850, they were 57 plates when new and now have private plates fitted. Refurbished for Lothian Motorcoaches use but didn't last that way.

Interesting. Makes them older than I thought, oldest in fleet?

 

[stevenedin]

Interesting. Makes them older than I thought, oldest in fleet?

Yeah the oldest in the fleet.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Interesting. Makes them older than I thought, oldest in fleet?

219 and 220 are still with us and they're not preserved, those are from 1999. These don't go in public service though.

 

[Numpt33]

There seems an expectation that drivers will act like inspectors these days and I think the high tech bus passes and phone/card payment methods have quite a lot to answer for here. It takes ages for passengers to scan their entitlement documents or whatever they use for payment in addition to telling the driver where they want to go (at least on the country routes).
In the past many passengers would just flash a random photo or drop a few washers into the hopper and move on.
However I'd like to think Lothian are aware of these issues and working on some practical solutions, as it ultimately affects their business.

Does anyone know if they still make those old ticket printers? It used to be that you'd drop your coppers into the hopper, and the driver pushed the button and a scratchy noise of a ticket being spat out almost instantly from a red machine behind the drivers back, meant that the passengers would move out of the way of the next passenger to get their ticket, rather than stay still and take 2 seconds to snap it off before moving to their seat. It was so fast!



You also used to get one massive long ticket when 20 of you got on.

 

[JKP]

Does anyone know if they still make those old ticket printers? It used to be that you'd drop your coppers into the hopper, and the driver pushed the button and a scratchy noise of a ticket being spat out almost instantly from a red machine behind the drivers back, meant that the passengers would move out of the way of the next passenger to get their ticket, rather than stay still and take 2 seconds to snap it off before moving to their seat. It was so fast!



You also used to get one massive long ticket when 20 of you got on.

Very much last century. These machines were in use in the 1970s and 1980s linked up to a speed setright with a number of municipal operators. I can’t remember though what Lothian used. The use of such equipment would not give sufficient back room data for today’s operations.

 

[GusB]

Does anyone know if they still make those old ticket printers? It used to be that you'd drop your coppers into the hopper, and the driver pushed the button and a scratchy noise of a ticket being spat out almost instantly from a red machine behind the drivers back, meant that the passengers would move out of the way of the next passenger to get their ticket, rather than stay still and take 2 seconds to snap it off before moving to their seat. It was so fast!



You also used to get one massive long ticket when 20 of you got on.

This is a subject for a separate thread.

 

[Siemens Trains]

Very much last century. These machines were in use in the 1970s and 1980s linked up to a speed setright with a number of municipal operators. I can’t remember though what Lothian used. The use of such equipment would not give sufficient back room data for today’s operations.

What kind of back room data do Lothian need from ticket machines these days?
Other than bank settlements the variables for tickets on city routes seem quite limited. Time of issue, adult, child, Ridacard, concession, maybe One-Ticket, Plusbus or ScotRail occasionally.
I imagine the number of child tickets must be very small now that locals under 22 qualify for concession passes.

 

[Graeme Duncan]

Are 591-594 still with us .

 

[Graham Alexand]

Are 591-594 still with us .

591 and 594 are still with Lothian, I believe. 592 and 593 have been sold, though.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

591 and 594 are still with Lothian, I believe. 592 and 593 have been sold, though.

592 and 593 have indeed been sold.

 

[route101]

219 and 220 are still with us and they're not preserved, those are from 1999. These don't go in public service though.

I remember one year a few older buses went out on public service for the unis starting.

 

[nathanchansc]

Traffic is ridiculous with the road works at around Mayfield Gardens. Took 15-20 minutes to get past that. And then the North Bridge chaos as usual. When is this gonna end if ever?

 

[VioletEclipse]

Traffic is ridiculous with the road works at around Mayfield Gardens. Took 15-20 minutes to get past that. And then the North Bridge chaos as usual. When is this gonna end if ever?

sadly it probably won't. The city is infamous for always having roadworks for a reason, there's basically never a time without at least a few routes being diverted or serverely delayed by roadworks.

(new post)
From what I can tell, services 73 and 74 interwork at Livingston, but the 72 and 74 don't interwork at Fauldhouse, had thought there was a decent chance they would.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

From what I can tell, services 73 and 74 interwork at Livingston, but the 72 and 74 don't interwork at Fauldhouse, had thought there was a decent chance they would.

I think the 72 is too long of a route to Interwork but I get what you mean, I guess it what I've been seeing/hearing is true, we could get some positive changes into the network if resources allow it.

Do you think further down the line we could see the X18 extending to Fauldhouse? even if it"s during peak times.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Do you think further down the line we could see the X18 extending to Fauldhouse? even if it"s during peak times.

I reckon there's more chance of a peak time X17 then after peak time they just go back onto X18s, which would also replace the X24, though I think there will be slight changes from its old route if it were to happen.

 

[Bus9120UK]

That's 415 and 652 both back from Ferrymill today. No more buses off there for repair.
406 also returned from repaint today, which surprised me as that only departed on Tuesday. 951 departed in it's place.

 

[scosutsut]

One of 841-850, they were 57 plates when new and now have private plates fitted. Refurbished for Lothian Motorcoaches use but didn't last that way.

Good units, refurb was solid - probably not many other vehicles that have been used in 4 different divisions of the company (Lothian, Motorcoaches, Country, East Coast)

They are now with Country for the second time!

 

[CN04NRJ]

Full size single deck BZL demonstrator BV72KPG is at Central.

 

[jb66]

The Lothian Country 72 just isn't working. 20mins late tonight Broxburn to Winchburgh.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

The Lothian Country 72 just isn't working. 20mins late tonight Broxburn to Winchburgh.

Delays are expected to happen sometimes, can't blame the route, sure it'll pick up.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Delays are expected to happen sometimes, can't blame the route, sure it'll pick up.

It's more or less every bus, everyday (except Sunday) - delays up to half an hour. I would say the timings are just too tight. Some stops are scheduled all within a minute which may not even be possible.

 

[Baileygirl]

It's more or less every bus, everyday (except Sunday) - delays up to half an hour. I would say the timings are just too tight. Some stops are scheduled all within a minute which may not even be possible.

Delays are at Kirkliston Cross Roads and from there to Broxburn. Especially in morning. It could take three or more sequences of the lights to get round, so delayed from here onwards.

 

[scosutsut]

Any word on replacement vehicles for Airlink? COVID obviously changed the game in terms of mileage / time on the road so it was right the B8Ls have stayed on longer, but it feels to me that unless there has been a change of policy they should be renewed about now?

 

[stevenedin]

Any word on replacement vehicles for Airlink? COVID obviously changed the game in terms of mileage / time on the road so it was right the B8Ls have stayed on longer, but it feels to me that unless there has been a change of policy they should be renewed about now?

They normally stay on Airlink for about 5 years apart from 2015 and 2017 batches so maybe next year?

 

[Ding Ding]

Delays are at Kirkliston Cross Roads and from there to Broxburn. Especially in morning. It could take three or more sequences of the lights to get round, so delayed from here onwards.

100% correct. I sometimes wonder how many contributors actually work or have worked in the bus industry, when you read their posts. A bus can be delayed for various reasons and Baileygirl has given just one. The 72 is a new service, a council subsidized service that has been extended to cope with the withdrawal of McGill's services. It runs once an hour, and has to cope with, said lights, temp lights at Winchburgh, badly parked cars at school, 5 sets of lights up to Oatridge Hotel, heavy traffic in Broxburn, you get the picture!!! There are loads of reasons a bus can run late, not all to do with scheduling. The timings are fine, when you take these things out of the equation. If you change the timings, it has an effect when things are quieter, the bus crawling along or sitting waiting time at bus stops. They are having to cope with an increase in passengers due to McGill's withdrawal, which again delays the bus. there is no magic formula to alleviate these problems.
Lothian have neither the staff nor the vehicles to offer a more frequent service, this will change over time, but not till next year.
People think that buses should interlink with each other, as well as trains, and turn up when someone is standing waiting at the stop. That would be ideal in a perfect world, but we don't live in a perfect world.

 

[Graeme Duncan]

Both 926 and 927 have been lying static for nearly a year. Will they be reinstated into service or sold to another dealer?

 

[Lx008]

Full size single deck BZL demonstrator BV72KPG is at Central.

Any idea if this is just for a little show and tell or if Lothian will be running public services with it for a while?

 

[CN04NRJ]

Any idea if this is just for a little show and tell or if Lothian will be running public services with it for a while?

No idea, it doesn't appear to have any logos/equipment on it (yet?).