Lothian Buses and ECB Discussion

[RomeoCharlie71]

We could do with a B5LH variant of the MCV eVoRa or Enviro200 MMC - there aren't that many Hybrid singles on the go at the moment.

 

[A330Alex]

Wright couldn't make a viable long wheelbase electric vehicle at the time. Weight wouldnt allow many standees meaning they were essentially useless. First six were supposed to be a trial with 12 more on order of a longer wheelbase. But as I say weigh was the issue. The origional 6 would then be distributed in twos between the three depots, for use on the 61, 69 and 20.

A longer wheelbase was then deemed unsuitable as even the first batch were troublesome.

It’s a shame as they're actually quite nice buses (if very small). The Enviro200EV looks more fit for purpose.

 

[OmniCity999]

It’s a shame as they're actually quite nice buses (if very small). The Enviro200EV looks more fit for purpose.

We could do with a B5LH variant of the MCV eVoRa or Enviro200 MMC - there aren't that many Hybrid singles on the go at the moment.

Watch this space

The next thing will be hydrogen power in a couple years

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

Watch this space

The next thing will be hydrogen power in a couple years

I actually saw a post on Facebook yesterday, that Lothian had "just" ordered a batch of Volvo B8RLE Enviro 300MMCs... Although given who this post was by, I'm not inclined to take it as gospel.

 

[OmniCity999]

I actually saw a post on Facebook yesterday, that Lothian had "just" ordered a batch of Volvo B8RLE Enviro 300MMCs... Although given who this post was by, I'm not inclined to take it as gospel.

Lothian are constantly working on new concepts with ADL and Volvo, so wouldnt surprise me. I've even seen leaked concept images of a B8RLE tri axle single decker badged as a Enviro 300 XLB and a twin axle branded as Enviro 300. Believe the thinking behind it is that the all ADL product will be the Enviro 200 and the heavy duty longer wheelbase Volvo / ADL product will be known as the Enviro 300. Both versions of the 300 have the newer style front (as per the Enviro400 XLBs) as opposed to the city front.

Commonality in ADL parts would mean that a single decker product from them is more viable than the Evora or anything Wright bus now. The company has moved to ADL.

Just waiting for the press release.

 

[etetetetet]

If anyone knows, I wanna ask a couple questions about Lothian:

1) Anyone know where you can find the route history of certain bus numbers? There used to be a website that would tell you what route a certain number's been operating on, but I can't remember. Anyone got a link?

2) Something that has been bugging me for ages, a few months ago while I was near the Granton college, I saw a single decker, one of the old 04 plates with roller blinds, with the number C8. It said it was going to the Infirmary. Any clue what this was for? Haven't seen another number like it since.

 

[cnjb8]

We could do with a B5LH variant of the MCV eVoRa or Enviro200 MMC - there aren't that many Hybrid singles on the go at the moment.

50 (?) Hybrid Evoras work services in Singapore

 

[Darklord8899]

If anyone knows, I wanna ask a couple questions about Lothian:

1) Anyone know where you can find the route history of certain bus numbers? There used to be a website that would tell you what route a certain number's been operating on, but I can't remember. Anyone got a link?

2) Something that has been bugging me for ages, a few months ago while I was near the Granton college, I saw a single decker, one of the old 04 plates with roller blinds, with the number C8. It said it was going to the Infirmary. Any clue what this was for? Haven't seen another number like it since.

The 38 runs from Granton to Royal Infirmary, so I suspect that is what you saw, (route number may have been incorrectly entered by Driver hence it showed C8 rather than 38 - despite being roller blinds, they are changed electronically)

 

[Siemens Trains]

If anyone knows, I wanna ask a couple questions about Lothian:

1) Anyone know where you can find the route history of certain bus numbers? There used to be a website that would tell you what route a certain number's been operating on, but I can't remember. Anyone got a link?

2) Something that has been bugging me for ages, a few months ago while I was near the Granton college, I saw a single decker, one of the old 04 plates with roller blinds, with the number C8. It said it was going to the Infirmary. Any clue what this was for? Haven't seen another number like it since.

Lothian's fleet numbers appear in the London Vehicle Finder section of the London Omnibus Traction Society site. You can type in a vehicle number and it tells you the routes that it operated on for a particular day, with start and stop times. I expect a few subscribers to this forum will make good use of it. The facility doesn't seem very intuitive to me but it does seem to work quite well if you know what you're doing.

The 38 runs from Granton to Royal Infirmary, so I suspect that is what you saw, (route number may have been incorrectly entered by Driver hence it showed C8 rather than 38 - despite being roller blinds, they are changed electronically)

Perhaps a ghost of the old C38. Although this may never have gone all the way down towards Granton.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

You can use bustimes.org to see the history of a vehicle.

 

[VioletEclipse]

Lothian are constantly working on new concepts with ADL and Volvo, so wouldnt surprise me. I've even seen leaked concept images of a B8RLE tri axle single decker badged as a Enviro 300 XLB and a twin axle branded as Enviro 300. Believe the thinking behind it is that the all ADL product will be the Enviro 200 and the heavy duty longer wheelbase Volvo / ADL product will be known as the Enviro 300. Both versions of the 300 have the newer style front (as per the Enviro400 XLBs) as opposed to the city front.

Commonality in ADL parts would mean that a single decker product from them is more viable than the Evora or anything Wright bus now. The company has moved to ADL.

Just waiting for the press release.

The press release for the XLBs took so long that I'm not hopeful of this one coming before September

 

[ScotRail158725]

If anyone knows, I wanna ask a couple questions about Lothian:

1) Anyone know where you can find the route history of certain bus numbers? There used to be a website that would tell you what route a certain number's been operating on, but I can't remember. Anyone got a link?

2) Something that has been bugging me for ages, a few months ago while I was near the Granton college, I saw a single decker, one of the old 04 plates with roller blinds, with the number C8. It said it was going to the Infirmary. Any clue what this was for? Haven't seen another number like it since.

for 1 i use london vehicle finder (https://lvf.io/#lrt), on there you can type the number plate to see what the vehicles most recent or current working is or type history and the fleet no to see what it worked however it only shows since january 1st 2018

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Do Marine run the number 1 now? Just saw a bus heading Leith bound that had MA on the side, a few minutes ago on lothian road

 

[ScotRail158725]

Do Marine run the number 1 now? Just saw a bus heading Leith bound that had MA on the side, a few minutes ago on lothian road

nope, 163 has MA depot codes wich is where it was based after repaint but has since moved depot

 

[tbtc]

If anyone knows, I wanna ask a couple questions about Lothian:

1) Anyone know where you can find the route history of certain bus numbers? There used to be a website that would tell you what route a certain number's been operating on, but I can't remember. Anyone got a link?

Which routes are you interested in?

For example, the 38 has been fairly stable over the years (RIE/Granton extensions aside) but for a while it was the C38/C58 (when Eastern Scottish ran it as a circular to compete with the LRT 32/52 -i.e. similar to the current 38 but extending from Cameron Toll via Niddrie, Portobello, Craigentinny, Leith, Newhaven to Granton)

Or do you mean you're interested in the routes hat a certain vehicle was allocated to over the years?

 

[etetetetet]

The 38 runs from Granton to Royal Infirmary, so I suspect that is what you saw, (route number may have been incorrectly entered by Driver hence it showed C8 rather than 38 - despite being roller blinds, they are changed electronically)

I thought that but this was right in front of the college, and the 38 doesnt go down that way. It used to, but certainly not by the time I saw it. Maybe it was just an error, or something along those lines.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

I thought that but this was right in front of the college, and the 38 doesnt go down that way. It used to, but certainly not by the time I saw it. Maybe it was just an error, or something along those lines.

Maybe it was the 24? It also runs Granton - Royal infirmary

 

[VioletEclipse]

Maybe it was the 24? It also runs Granton - Royal infirmary

That's quite easily possible, the blinds on the old Eclipses are temperamental at best.

 

[route101]

Maybe it was the 24? It also runs Granton - Royal infirmary

Are deckers common on the 24 , seen one other day?

 

[route101]

Anyone know the reason at the Waverley travel centre , that all timetables are out on the racks but you have to ask for route maps?

 

[takno]

Are deckers common on the 24 , seen one other day?

Got one in Saturday, and the 24 I saw going the other way was one too. Never seen one before, although it would be quite handy at peak when the bus is rammed from at least KB to Lothian Road

 

[route101]

Got one in Saturday, and the 24 I saw going the other way was one too. Never seen one before, although it would be quite handy at peak when the bus is rammed from at least KB to Lothian Road

Maybe its extra capacity for the festival

 

[takno]

Maybe its extra capacity for the festival

Possibly, or there was a shortage of singles available on the day. On the actual services I caught on Saturday you could have got all the passengers in a minibus, but I guess the bus is out all day and might have been busier earlier

 

[OmniCity999]

Centrals allocation of singles has dropped and its double deck allocation has risen. Single deck routes see double deckers as a result.

Ideally as many routes as possibly would be deckers. But the company needs to keep singles in the fleet for operational reasons, they can be very useful (not just around low bridges!)

 

[Jordan Adam]

Centrals allocation of singles has dropped and its double deck allocation has risen. Single deck routes see double deckers as a result.

Ideally as many routes as possibly would be deckers. But the company needs to keep singles in the fleet for operational reasons, they can be very useful (not just around low bridges!)

Seems logical, Edinburgh has high bus use and as such deckers are needed. But it wouldn't make any sense to get rid of singles entirely. Although imo they should be looking in to artics for the 30 as the current singles on it are just woeful, especially in the late afternoon when you get packed in like sardines!

I was going to make a joke about low bridges but i'll refrain for now.

 

[scotrail158713]

Seems logical, Edinburgh has high bus use and as such deckers are needed. But it wouldn't make any sense to get rid of singles entirely. Although imo they should be looking in to artics for the 30 as the current singles on it are just woeful, especially in the late afternoon when you get packed in like sardines!

I was going to make a joke about low bridges but i'll refrain for now.

Arctics for the 30 would be great up until Newcraighall. When the route goes round the houses at Stoneyhill the streets become quite narrow, with the current buses only just fitting. Although actually if arctics were only running to Newcraighall then you’d be as well as making them deckers because the low bridge is at Newcraighall.

 

[OmniCity999]

Arctics for the 30 would be great up until Newcraighall. When the route goes round the houses at Stoneyhill the streets become quite narrow, with the current buses only just fitting. Although actually if arctics were only running to Newcraighall then you’d be as well as making them deckers because the low bridge is at Newcraighall.

The tight bits at Stoneybank are now gone.

Watch this space re new buses on the 30...

 

[scotrail158713]

The tight bits at Stoneybank are now gone.

Watch this space re new buses on the 30...

Ah ok. It’s a while since I’ve been on the 30 around there.
New buses on the 30? Sounds good.

 

[VioletEclipse]

Are deckers common on the 24 , seen one other day?

Yes, very common. At least one every day

 

[Driver362]

Seems logical, Edinburgh has high bus use and as such deckers are needed. But it wouldn't make any sense to get rid of singles entirely. Although imo they should be looking in to artics for the 30 as the current singles on it are just woeful, especially in the late afternoon when you get packed in like sardines!

I was going to make a joke about low bridges but i'll refrain for now.

To be honest Jordan, I thought X17 would have been put back down to singles in light of bridge strike / de roofing. It's not as if they are needed for capacity. There just a tad easier along the back roads to Fauldhouse. But with the pace you are restricted to on those roads your not any quicker with a decker. My best guess is for reliability? And there better to drive than a 04 plate B7 Rle / voith. But wouldn't think they would keep deckers on Purley for driver convinance?? Maybe omnicity999 could shed some light on it?