Lothian Buses acquires Eve Coaches

[Lothian285]

Didn't see this coming:

https://www.lothianbuses.com/news/2024/02/lothian-announce-purchase-of-eve-coaches/

Lothian has today (13 February 2024) announced it has purchased East Lothian coach operator Eve Coaches.

The award-winning transport operator will acquire the touring operator, based in Dunbar, to expand its own coach and tours offering in East Lothian.

Following the completion of the acquisition, Lothian intend to continue to operate acquired services under the Eve Coaches brand in East Lothian. These include a mixture of local bus services, private hire services and school work.

Sarah Boyd, Managing Director for Lothian said: “Eve Coaches is a well-known operator in the local area with over 40 years of service to the communities of East Lothian. We look forward to the opportunities that this acquisition will afford us in the future.”

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Lothian announce purchase of Eve Coaches - Lothian Buses

Lothian has today (13 February 2024) announced it has purchased East Lothian coach operator Eve Coaches. The award-winning transport operator will acquire the touring operator, based in Dunbar, to expand its own coach and tours offering in East Lothian. Following the completion of the...

www.lothianbuses.com

Lothian have bought Eve Coaches, we could potentially see the 120 become part of the East Coast Buses network now

 

[VioletEclipse]

Lothian have bought Eve Coaches, we could potentially see the 120 become part of the East Coast Buses network now

I was initially convinced this was some kind of joke, but it's not the 1st of April and I see no reason for Lothian to post fake announcements.
Completely unexpected, and opens up a whole load of questions and speculation.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

I was initially convinced this was some kind of joke, but it's not the 1st of April and I see no reason for Lothian to post fake announcements.
Completely unexpected, and opens up a whole load of questions and speculation.

I'll admit I was taken back either, I do agree though the speculation will be skyrocketing, I almost thought it was Prentice they bought out untill I took a double take.

I went on to have a look at the local services and I forgot that Eve run the 121 also (North Berwick to Haddington)

This could also be a good year for East Lothian but hopefully they will take on Eve drivers in this takeover also.

 

[Acfb]

I was surprised about this. I saw the 120 and 121 at Church Rd in North Berwick recently on a Saturday afternoon and there were quite a lot of people getting on those (but they might have been very local journeys?).

I can see myself using the 120 one day to go to Tyninghame etc if it gets integrated with Lothian fares.

The integration will be good for the 123 for Gifford too hopefully.

 

[InOban]

I assume that the sale arose because the owners of Eve wished to retire, or were they in financial distress? I would have thought that Borders Buses would have been interested.

 

[stevenedin]

Possibly they could then use the smaller buses (from Eve) to run newer tendered routes which require smaller buses.

Hopefully they will move all service routes to the East Coast Buses brand and keep the Eve Coaches name for the tours.

 

[Lothian285]

Hopefully they will move all service routes to the East Coast Buses brand and keep the Eve Coaches name for the tours.

The article seems to suggest that services will continue to operate under the Eve Coaches brands but I guess that could change.

 

[DunsBus]

The article seems to suggest that services will continue to operate under the Eve Coaches brands but I guess that could change.

I'd certainly put some money on some of the X7 duties being moved out to there, with the Dunbar terminus being nearby.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

I'd certainly put some money on some of the X7 duties being moved out to there, with the Dunbar terminus being nearby.

Completely agree. With North Berwick closed in my opinion.

 

[SoloSR334022]

Lothian have bought Eve Coaches, we could potentially see the 120 become part of the East Coast Buses network now

Would this see Eve Coaches service feature on the Lothian Buses and Tram app?

 

[Bus9120UK]

I assume that the sale arose because the owners of Eve wished to retire

Seems like it: https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1757381354788889083/photo/2

Eve Coaches is a much loved family owned business which has been running since 1978, I am proud that they approached Lothian Buses when it was time to retire.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

I was surprised about this. I saw the 120 and 121 at Church Rd in North Berwick recently on a Saturday afternoon and there were quite a lot of people getting on those (but they might have been very local journeys?).

I can see myself using the 120 one day to go to Tyninghame etc if it gets integrated with Lothian fares.

The integration will be good for the 123 for Gifford too hopefully.

I can only hope that the Lothian fares will get integrated, make travel from Dunbar and North Berwick very easy when having a day out in East Lothian.

 

[Ricky Kane]

I can only hope that the Lothian fares will get integrated, make travel from Dunbar and North Berwick very easy when having a day out in East Lothian.

Wonder what fleet numbers they will use.

 

[VioletEclipse]

Wonder what fleet number's they will use.

I assume the buses and coaches largely won't keep their current ones, as E18-E100 (with a lot of gaps) doesn't really fit anywehere neatly in the Lothian fleet. Quite likely split based on minibuses, buses and coaches. Wonder if the Optare Olympus will properly join the fleet.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

I assume the buses and coaches largely won't keep their current ones, as E18-E100 (with a lot of gaps) doesn't really fit anywehere neatly in the Lothian fleet. Quite likely split based on minibuses, buses and coaches. Wonder if the Optare Olympus will properly join the fleet.

I would suggest that the coaches will be in the 9000s like the Lothian Motorcoaches ones as well as the Sprinters. I reckon the Optare Solos (Lothian owns some now, wow) will get fleet numbers in the normal range with the Enviro200 MMCs. I don't think the Optare Olympus will join the Lothian fleet though with its extra capacity it would be welcomed!

 

[Dfatcontroller]

I would suggest that the coaches will be in the 9000s like the Lothian Motorcoaches ones as well as the Sprinters. I reckon the Optare Solos (Lothian owns some now, wow) will get fleet numbers in the normal range with the Enviro200 MMCs. I don't think the Optare Olympus will join the Lothian fleet though with its extra capacity it would be welcomed!

Surely the Olympus will still be required for the duties for which it was acquired by Eve??

 

[Ricky Kane]

I would suggest that the coaches will be in the 9000s like the Lothian Motorcoaches ones as well as the Sprinters. I reckon the Optare Solos (Lothian owns some now, wow) will get fleet numbers in the normal range with the Enviro200 MMCs. I don't think the Optare Olympus will join the Lothian fleet though with its extra capacity it would be welcomed!

I renember the old 2008 solos they had.

 

[VioletEclipse]

After almost completely standardising the fleet to Volvo products, they've now bought a lot of second-hand non-Volvos, including bus and coach types they've never had (ie E200s).

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Would this see Eve Coaches service feature on the Lothian Buses and Tram app?

Honestly I would be surprised, I just feel like they will put the 120, 121, 123, 130 etc as part of the ECB brand

 

[Blindtraveler]

It would surprise me little if they sold some of the more non-standard vehicles and ordered new for various places transferring other stock out to the East Lothian operation, and less of course the competition and markets boys mean that they keep the whole thing so separate but it doesn't match the matter if they've got a d l and optare etc

 

[Lx008]

I can easily see a sale of the existing non-coach stock and standardization to sprinters & 10.8m MCV Evora B8RLE

 

[GusB]

There's a bit more detail in the Route One article below, concerning the fleet, premises and staff.

Eve Coaches of Dunbar is purchased by Lothian Buses - routeone

In a surprise move, municipal Lothian Buses has purchased Dunbar operator Eve Coaches for an undisclosed amount.

www.route-one.net

Eve Coaches’ brand will be maintained, and the business’s premises in Dunbar and entire fleet are included in the sale, a Lothian spokesperson has confirmed. The Spott Road depot will continue to be used for Eve operations and staff have transferred under TUPE, they continue.

It's certainly an interesting acquisition.

I can easily see a sale of the existing non-coach stock and standardization to sprinters & 10.8m MCV Evora B8RLE

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a bit of rationalisation eventually, but the nature of smaller fleets like this is that there tends to be quite a lot of "non-standard" vehicles. If the fleet has been well maintained there may be no urgent need to get rid of anything.

 

[scosutsut]

I

I can easily see a sale of the existing non-coach stock and standardization to sprinters & 10.8m MCV Evora B8RLE

For me that feels unlikely, they have significant investment due soon in main fleet, pressing electrification targets and I think a few very modern and right sized Enviro 200s aren't going to be a priority.

What I'd be interested to see is whether Motorcoaches is busy enough to need it's current fleet, or whether Eve will start receiving coaches from them.

I'm also interested to see what happens branding and integration wise with ECB.

 

[Devon Sunset]

The local paper (East Lothian Courier) had an article in November about Eve applying for permission to use vacant land adjacent to their existing premises for parking and a portakabin for drivers. I'm guessing this is connected to the takeover and potentially basing some ECB vehicles here for X7, etc. I'm not going to quote it as it's a Reach site and littered with ads.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

The local paper (East Lothian Courier) had an article in November about Eve applying for permission to use vacant land adjacent to their existing premises for parking and a portakabin for drivers. I'm guessing this is connected to the takeover and potentially basing some ECB vehicles here for X7, etc. I'm not going to quote it as it's a Reach site and littered with ads

They did just buy a whole new depot so I don't know. I wonder if that was because of Lothian and needing increased capacity for the X7 and stuff.

 

[Blindtraveler]

It certainly makes a deal of sense to have X7 stationed out of Dunbar, I wonder if this will mean in the longer term that North Berwick outstation closes

 

[JKP]

Eves took on a new Demand Responsive Transport contract starting Monday 12th February serving the coastal area south of Dunbar. I don’t think Lothian have operated such services previously.

 

[Grumpyscot]

Eves also have school contract for Preston Lodge > Port Seton. They usually use their 100 seater, and three coaches.

We used them regularly to take coach loads of OAPs out for day or afternoon trips. Always found Gary Scougall (the owner) very helpful and his drivers were superb very patient and helpful getting the infirm oaps on and off the coaches. Tour drivers very knowledgable. A few were part timers who did the school runs - they usually parked at least 3 of the school run buses up at Meadowmill Sports Centre during the day.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Eves also have school contract for Preston Lodge > Port Seton. They usually use their 100 seater, and three coaches.

We used them regularly to take coach loads of OAPs out for day or afternoon trips. Always found Gary Scougall (the owner) very helpful and his drivers were superb very patient and helpful getting the infirm oaps on and off the coaches. Tour drivers very knowledgable. A few were part timers who did the school runs - they usually parked at least 3 of the school run buses up at Meadowmill Sports Centre during the day.

They park a lot of the other ones at Meadowmill during the day. Preston Lodge tend to just get the coaches now and the Centurion is now being used for Ross High School. I wonder if the school services that East Coast Buses currently run will move to Eve with some of the white 09 plates being moved to Eve next year (which is when the first operational changes are to be made).