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

[Bus9120UK]

Saw one of the 800s looking what was to be a test run on the X40, it was turning out of Drum St towards the hospital.

Would this not have been 843? It followed the X40 route to the Hospital after the bypass while deadrunning for the NHS Shuttles.

 

[CN04NRJ]

Would this not have been 843? It followed the X40 route to the Hospital after the bypass while deadrunning for the NHS Shuttles.

You're right, didn't expect to see it there so assumed

 

[ScotRail158725]

Probably old news now but 1141 has returned to service at Longstone with 1000 moving to Central

 

[Bus9120UK]

Probably old news now but 1141 has returned to service at Longstone with 1000 moving to Central

A very recent movement. I'd guess this is to try reduce single deckers on the wrong routes while 441-465 are away for paint.

 

[danielhogg2005]

A very recent movement. I'd guess this is to try reduce single deckers on the wrong routes while 441-465 are away for paint.

What are they getting painted for?

 

[Bus9120UK]

What are they getting painted for?

Just a repaint into madder and white again. Their existing coat of paint is aging now. All of the buses are faded, some have turned purple, others look like paint palettes and the vinyl application is all over the place. Just repainted 445 is actually the bus they are taking to Driver of the Year this year.

 

[ScotRail158725]

What are they getting painted for?

Repaint into the same livery, they’re all 7 year old paint jobs completely faded with mix and match panel colours like a dulux colour chart. 441-445, 447-449, 455, 459 all done now

 

[Bus9120UK]

Repaint into the same livery, they’re all 7 year old paint jobs completely faded with mix and match panel colours like a dulux colour chart. 441-445, 447-449, 455, 459 all done now

451 is also complete.

 

[computerSaysNo]

For the record.
Frequency summary from 28 May 2023:

"M-F" = Monday to Friday. "Sa" = Saturday.

LOTHIAN BUSES			Mon-Sat Frequency (every x mins)	Sun Frequency (every x mins)	Changes
1	Clermiston	Seafield	M-F 15, Sa 20	30	M-F increased to e/15m
2	Hermiston Gait	The Jewel	20	30	Gyle to Hermiston Gait section withdrawn.
3	Clovenstone	Mayfield	12	20	Revised timetable.
4	Queen Margaret Uni	Hillend	20	30	Extended from Milton Link to Queen Margaret Uni via A1. Asda The Jewel no longer served. Bingham Roundabout no longer served.
5	The Jewel	Hunter's Tryst	20	30	Revised timetable.
7	Newhaven	Royal Infirmary	20	20	Revised timetable.
8	Muirhouse	Royal Infirmary	20	30	Revised timetable.
9	Muirhouse	King's Buildings	20	30	Muirhouse to Surgeons' Hall/Nicholson Sq as per Service 8. Nicholson Sq to King's Buildings replaces Service 41.
10	Bonaly	Ocean Terminal	20	30	Northern terminus changed to Ocean Terminal.
11	Western Harbour	Hyvots Bank	12	15	Northern terminus changed to Western Harbour.
12	Gyle Centre	King's Road	30	30 to Bread Street only	Route in Gyle area swapped with Service 22 (12 now operates via S Gyle Crescent).
14	Muirhouse	Greendykes	20	20	Revised timetable.
15	City Centre	Pentlands Science Park	60	0	Revised timetable.
16	Silverknowes	Torphin	12	15	Revised timetable.
19	Granton	Eastfield	M-F 15, Sa 20	30	Extended from King's Road to Eastfield.
21	Clovenstone or Gyle Centre	Royal Infirmary	15 (30 per branch)	30 Clovenstone only	Sunday: Gyle Centre journeys withdrawn and frequency decrease to e/30m.
22	Gyle Centre	Granton Harbour	20	30	Eastern route extended to Granton Harbour via previous Service 47 route. Princes St no longer served. Route in Gyle area swapped with Service 12 (22 now operates via S Gyle Broadway).
23	Trinity	Greenbank	20	30	Revised timetable.
24	West Granton	Royal Infirmary	20	30	Revised timetable.
25	Heriot-Watt	Restalrig	12	15	M-F frequency reduced to e/12m. Peak extras removed for University Summer period.
26	Clerwood	Seton Sands or Tranent	10 (20 per branch)	12 (2 per hour to Tranent, 3 per hour to Seton Sands)	Revised timetable.
27	Silverknowes	Hunter's Tryst	20	30	Revised timetable.
29	Silverknowes	Gorebridge Birkenside	20	30	Revised timetable.
30	Clovenstone	Queen Margaret Uni	M-F 10, Sa 12	12	Route truncated at Queen Margaret Uni. QM Uni to Musselburgh section replaced with Services 46 and 48.
31	East Craigs	Bonnyrigg Hopefield	15 (30 per branch)	20 (40 per branch)	Revised timetable.
33	Wester Hailes	Millerhill	20	30	Revised timetable.
34	Heriot-Watt Uni	Ocean Terminal	20	30	Diversion via Salamander Pl and Baltic St becomes permanent route.
35	Heriot-Watt Uni	Ocean Terminal	20	30	Revised timetable.
36	Gyle Centre	Ocean Terminal	30	30	Revised timetable.
37	Silverknowes	Easter Bush or Penicuik	M-F 15 (30 per branch), Sa 20 to Penicuik only	30, to Penicuik only	Revised timetable.
38	West Granton	Royal Infirmary	30	60	Revised timetable.
41	Cammo	King's Buildings	0	0	Withdrawn. City Centre to Cammo replaced by Service 47. City Centre to King's Buildings section replaced by Service 9.
44	Balerno	Wallyford	M-F 12, Sa 15. Whitecraig gets limited Peak service M-Sa only	20	Revised timetable.
45	Heriot-Watt Uni	King's Road or Eastfield	M-F 30, Sa 0	0	Route truncated at King's Road with limited peak services continuing to Eastfield.
46	Musselburgh	Rosewell	30	60 Royal Infirmary to Rosewell only	New service via Stoneybank, Fort Kinnaird, Royal Infirmary, Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg. Replaces Service 30 between Musselburgh and Fort Kinnaird. Replaces Service 49 between Royal Infirmary and Rosewell.
47 47B	Cammo	Penicuik Ladywood	20	30	Sat frequency City Centre to Penicuik section increased to e/20m. Northern part of route changed to now serve Cammo via 41 route. City Centre to Granton section replaced by Service 22.
48	Musselburgh	Gorebridge Birkenside	30	30	Route extended from Fort Kinnaird to Musselburgh Grammar via Newcraighall, Stoneybank.
49	Fort Kinnaird	Royal Infirmary	20	30	Route truncated at Royal Infirmary. Section to Rosewell replaced by Service 46.
AIRPORT
100	Airport	City Centre	10	10	Frequency 0100-0400 increased from e/30m to e/20m. Frequency 0400-0500 increased from e/10m to e/8m.
200	Airport	Ocean Terminal	30	30	Revised timetable.
400	Airport	Fort Kinnaird	30	40	Sunday frequency decreased to e/40m.
EAST COAST BUSES
X5	North Berwick	Edinburgh Express	60	0	Revised timetable.
X6	Haddington	Edinburgh Express	30	60	Amisfield Park section withdrawn. Sunday frequency reduced to e/60m to allow increase in X7.
X7	Dunbar	Edinburgh Express	30	30	M-F: one additional AM Peak and PM Peak service. Sunday frequency increased to e/30m.
106	Dunbar or Haddington	Queen Margaret Uni	60	60	Route truncated at Queen Margaret Uni. QM Uni to Fort Kinnaird section replaced with Services 46 and 48.
113	Pencaitland	Edinburgh Western General	30	60	Revised timetable.
124	North Berwick	Edinburgh	30	30	Revised timetable.
139	Midlothian Community Hospital	Dalkeith Campus	60	0	Revised timetable.
140 141	Musselburgh	Penicuik Centre	30 (60 per branch)	60, as 140 only. Runs Musselburgh to Roslin only.	Revised timetable.
LOTHIAN COUNTRY BUSES
43	Queensferry	Edinburgh	20	20	M-F: one additional AM Peak and PM Peak service.
X18	Whitburn	Edinburgh	30	30	M-F: one additional AM Peak and PM Peak service.
X27 X28	Bathgate	Edinburgh	20 (40 per branch)	30 (60 per branch)	Revised timetable.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Welcome to another edition of the "Another one of my ideas to give the 26 some XLBs that will have an obvious flaw that I've not spotted yet show!" You can swap the 44 and 26 Central runs, then give the 47 some of the Central B5TLs (probably MMCs from the 44 which were operated by Central), and if some XLBs are available, then great! The few 26 Central would use XLBs and then use some of the Marine MMCs for the 44, and then give the 19 the Zoo ones left over (Remember that the zoo buses aren't "26 branded" as such. Some 44s on the Eastern End would start at Eastfield from Marine If you do that the 47 would lose some of its XLBs though, I have been thinking about how to give the 26 some Enviro400 XLBs for a long time, even some would be a bonus for that route, and it would also benefit the East side of the 44 reducing dead runs via the City Bypass.

 

[Vectron383]

Just seen a 7900 on an X37… one of the stranger allocations out there!

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Just seen a 7900 on an X37… one of the stranger allocations out there!

That's actually somewhat common, believe it or not.

 

[danielhogg2005]

Just seen a 7900 on an X37… one of the stranger allocations out there!

I've seen one on a X29 and X31 too (not today), it is very common.

 

[CN04NRJ]

Just seen a 7900 on an X37… one of the stranger allocations out there!

Almost a daily occurrence that SDs make it out on the afternoon rush buses, I think there's approx 30 buses that go out so often not enough DDs to cover the work. Not ideal, but a bus is better than no bus I guess.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Lothian Country's 72 has the timetable published on bustimes! Can't find the X40's yet as it's still showing Horsburgh.

 

[Volvodart]

The times for the X40 are on Traveline Scotland if you change the date, but no timetable download as yet.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Lothian Country's 72 has the timetable published on bustimes! Can't find the X40's yet as it's still showing Horsburgh.

You can find it here: https://bustimes.org/services/x40-livingston-st-johns-hospital-edinburgh-royal-i?date=2023-10-16 (date updated to show Lothian timetable)

 

[stevenedin]

You can find it here: https://bustimes.org/services/x40-livingston-st-johns-hospital-edinburgh-royal-i?date=2023-10-16 (date updated to show Lothian timetable)

Thanks

 

[danielhogg2005]

Lothian Country's 72 has the timetable published on bustimes! Can't find the X40's yet as it's still showing Horsburgh.

Is the Monday to Friday timetable right because journeys seem to be missing?

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Is the Monday to Friday timetable right because journeys seem to be missing?

I have noticed it seems to be a 2 hour frequency gap for Journeys from Kirkliston, as I was under the impression the service was running hourly as late as 10pm.

You can find it here: https://bustimes.org/services/x40-livingston-st-johns-hospital-edinburgh-royal-i?date=2023-10-16 (date updated to show Lothian timetable)

Thank you! I have noticed the X40 is serving the stops on Wester Hailes Road also as I predicted which is a good sign!

 

[jb66]

2 hour frequency is so awkward for timings. My daughter can't make it work for after school activities sadly so won't be using it during the week, hopefully it's an error as weekends show 1 hour

 

[TheEastCoaster]

2 hour frequency is so awkward for timings. My daughter can't make it work for after school activities sadly so won't be using it during the week, hopefully it's an error as weekends show 1 hour

I'm gonna go on a guess and say it must be an error, if.your putting out a brand new service and want to advertise it well then an hourly frequency (at least to start with) is the best foot forward.

 

[Bus9120UK]

I'm gonna go on a guess and say it must be an error, if.your putting out a brand new service and want to advertise it well then an hourly frequency (at least to start with) is the best foot forward.

Must be. No chance you've got a more frequent service on a Sunday.

 

[LiviCrazy]

Lothian Country's 72 has the timetable published on bustimes! Can't find the X40's yet as it's still showing Horsburgh.

Both timetables can be viewed on Traveline Scotland. Just search the number and change the date

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Thank you! I have noticed the X40 is serving the stops on Wester Hailes Road also as I predicted which is a good sign!

It’s good to see the lay-by opposite the 33’s terminus has been brought back into use as a bus stop. I think this is the only ‘new’ stop?

 

[TheEastCoaster]

It’s good to see the lay-by opposite the 33’s terminus has been brought back into use as a bus stop. I think this is the only ‘new’ stop?

Yeah it is, I'm so glad it's back as a working bus stop, question being will the council go out of their way to update the bus stop flags?

Could say the same for the Wisp with the 111 change!

 

[LothianBusesPh]

What is 24 doing on the 48?

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

What is 24 doing on the 48?

It’s probably a driver on their first shift duplicating a normal run. It’s a common thing now. It should return to Longstone later on.

 

[DunsBus]

The changes to the 9 this weekend are particularly noteworthy. Firstly, it restores a bus service to the full length of Granton Road, as the northernmost section between Wardie Crescent and Granton Square has been without one since the 17 was withdrawn back in 2009. Secondly, that section will see evening and Sunday buses again for the first time since January 1987, when the 8 swapped its operating hours with the 3 and the 19/39 (the 3 gaining evening and Sunday buses and taking over from the 8 south of Gilmerton, the 8 being curtailed to Gilmerton and losing its evening and Sunday buses, and the 19/39 going back to a full day service after losing its evening and Sunday buses at deregulation).

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

The changes to the 9 this weekend are particularly noteworthy. Firstly, it restores a bus service to the full length of Granton Road, as the northernmost section between Wardie Crescent and Granton Square has been without one since the 17 was withdrawn back in 2009.

I still find it somewhat bizarre that they’ve opted to bring back this route back. It was lightly used previously and looking at the area, not much has changed for me to justify its return. Running non stop from Grierson Avenue to Granton Square isn’t ideal either, much like the 35 on Chesser Avenue.