Recent content by Siemens Trains

My understanding is that only East and West Lothian councils now subsidise local services over Christmas and New Year. City of Edinburgh Council withdrew funding a few years back. Not sure when Midlothian stopped financial support, or if they ever started.

I wondered if a through train might use platform 7/11 on the south side of Waverley station (gated, but usually left open for LNER customers).

Unfortunately that's unlikely to be popular. To make it worthwhile then every journey would need to take the route, regardless of the weather conditions. For many journeys there would be no passengers at all and it's quite a substantial diversion. In fairness they usually send the 747 along...

'Deckers' means double deck buses and these are much taller than single deck buses. Double deckers are at risk of being diverted away from the Forth Road Bridge onto the nearby wind-shielded Queensferry Crossing during strong wind restrictions which can arise at short notice. Unfortunately this...

That's interesting - I buy ScotRail tickets at random to Waverley or Haymarket then randomly alight or board the return journey at either station. The only time I've had difficulties with barriers is if I mix up the outward or return portions. Never because it's the wrong station on the ticket...

I suspect that would only be a rumour as my understanding is that the 43 has been entirely commercial since withdrawing the Bo'ness extensions run under a contract to Falkirk Council. And of course the occasional Festive season subsidy from Edinburgh Council, which ended before Lothian Country...

The Lothian City brand seemed to be a flash in the pan when these buses were introduced a few years back along with the old Edinburgh Corporation crest logo, but gradually faded away. Looks like current thinking is to identify brands by just using red, green and blue buses these days. Plus...

I suppose the next logical question is why a company would want to disguise vehicle ages at all. We've easily established these were originally registered in 2007, have been refurbished, and are really quite reliable buses. This is surely everything that passengers, insurers, drivers, or second...

Passengers on a tight budget remain at liberty to share the seated coach. Another business idea might be to strike a deal with other prospective travellers online, splitting the cost of a twin room or double bed. Maybe passengers could try start by putting out offers on this forum, perhaps...

The 'board at flag' topic arises quite frequently on here. I feel it's especially important in the city centre for safety, equality and queue discipline reasons. Other operators are catching on but their passengers still tend to poach - ie move some distance upstream in the hope of boarding...

I don't think Ratho has been served by commercial services for some time, if at all. The buses are financed by Edinburgh Council due to low demand and high operating costs. McGill's had massive problems with driver and vehicle availability so had little option but to cut back routes, including...

Latterly the bus company has been short of driver resource and may see less need to run parallel routes. But to be honest there isn't a huge reduction in bus provision along the western section of the tram route. Really just a significant drop in frequency of the 22 route. The 100 remains quite...

With inflation in the 5% to 10% range over the past year they may not have much choice. No reason why bus fares shouldn't be reviewed and adjusted annually, just like regulated rail fares.

Moving other traffic away isn't popular with those whose travel can't easily be done by tram. Edinburgh has already displaced much traffic along its single tram line between Haymarket and Picardy Place. Apparently the next step is to move many bus routes away from the city centre. This section...

Absolutely correct. Routes with the heaviest bus density and passenger demand are the clearest candidates for running trams. I've seen how trams have created difficulties for other traffic (including buses) on Shandwick Place and Princes Street. I imagine Leith Walk is the same although I'm not...