McGill's Scotland East (Midland Bluebird and Eastern Scottish)

[Bluebirdscot66]

Then the driver hadn't set the rear display correctly. (I only saw the rear as I passed )

Sorry but that’s not the drivers fault , it’s the cab controller not communicating with the rear screen if it was showing a different route number. Gremlins strike again

 

[stevenedin]

Sorry but that’s not the drivers fault , it’s the cab controller not communicating with the rear screen if it was showing a different route number. Gremlins strike again

I have noticed some just have a dot at the top left hand corner and no number on the back.

 

[roadierway77]

Some of the recent 200MMC transfers have entered service today - 4103 is on the 35 and 4104 is on the X38, though they aren't tracking on bustimes.org yet. Saw posts of them on the official McGill’s enthusiast Facebook group which is available here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1455698127967375/?ref=share

It's good to see McGill’s isn't only transferring over the oldest vehicles to the eastern operation like First did. I believe I'm right in saying that this batch of 10 MMCs will become the newest vehicles in the Scotland East fleet.

 

[stevenedin]

Some of the recent 200MMC transfers have entered service today - 4103 is on the 35 and 4104 is on the X38, though they aren't tracking on bustimes.org yet. Saw posts of them on the official McGill’s enthusiast Facebook group which is available here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1455698127967375/?ref=share

It's good to see McGill’s isn't only transferring over the oldest vehicles to the eastern operation like First did. I believe I'm right in saying that this batch of 10 MMCs will become the newest vehicles in the Scotland East fleet.

It’s great to see some new buses. Does anyone have a list of all of the recently withdrawn buses and what happened to them?

 

[Mullac321]

Some more Enviro200’s are also out today. 8003 is on the 8 tracking as 0467

 

[JumpinTrainz]

It’s great to see some new buses. Does anyone have a list of all of the recently withdrawn buses and what happened to them?

I see some E300s have been withdrawn which is surprising given their age.

 

[WibbleWobble]

I have noticed some just have a dot at the top left hand corner and no number on the back.

That means the destination unit is receiving power but no communication from the controller (often due to incorrect database/controller settings or a problem with the comms cable).

 

[roadierway77]

I see some E300s have been withdrawn which is surprising given their age.

I assume that like many vehicles at Scotland East, they were likely poorly maintained and thus didn't last as long as other better-maintained E300s.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

I assume that like many vehicles at Scotland East, they were likely poorly maintained and thus didn't last as long as other better-maintained E300s.

I don’t see the previous maintenance being a barrier provided McGills are willing to place the investment into these vehicles to get them to a good standard.

 

[roadierway77]

I don’t see the previous maintenance being a barrier provided McGills arr willing to place the investment into these vehicles to get them to a good standard.

Previous maintenance doesn't necessarily have to be a barrier no, but some of the vehicles were truly knackered - I've been on a couple of the Scotland East E300s and it definitely sounded like their gearboxes were on the way out, and it likely works out a lot cheaper and better for the public image to just transfer over vehicles from the western operation or from Xplore. McGill’s don't have to spend a fortune fixing up old vehicles and can instead replace them with newer examples with a better maintenance record.

 

[PaulMc7]

How many vehicles have still to be transferred into each depot? It's been good seeing how they've managed to get quite a few in so far.

 

[stevenedin]

Some of these E300s have done a lot of milage when they were with Galashiels depot on the X95 travelling to and from Carlisle and Edinburgh so that won’t have helped either.

It’ll be interesting to see if they sell them or scrap them.

 

[LiviCrazy]

On the route changes, having just taken an hour on a half hour scheduled journey, splitting the X22 is actually a good idea in hindsight.

With the 23 not going into Edinburgh, it is less likely to be hit by traffic along its long route, meaning those in Whitburn etc are more likely to get a punctual journey. When the X22 was hitting bad traffic in Edinburgh it’s got a natural knock on effect and Eastern Scottish just don’t have enough buses or drivers to put on an extra to cover the gap.

Shame that some have lost their direct connection, but not sure how many through journeys there actually were.

 

[Stan Drews]

On the route changes, having just taken an hour on a half hour scheduled journey, splitting the X22 is actually a good idea in hindsight.

With the 23 not going into Edinburgh, it is less likely to be hit by traffic along its long route, meaning those in Whitburn etc are more likely to get a punctual journey. When the X22 was hitting bad traffic in Edinburgh it’s got a natural knock on effect and Eastern Scottish just don’t have enough buses or drivers to put on an extra to cover the gap.

Shame that some have lost their direct connection, but not sure how many through journeys there actually were.

I think some of the running times were still First ‘Saturday’ timings, so punctuality was suffering. Quite a number of the change were clearly designed to address those issues. They’re effectively using the same number of buses to provide a little bit less, so that tells you that extra time has been built in.

 

[PaulMc7]

The one thing I've noticed with the West Lothian network is that it's quite well done for keeping dead mileage down. The location of the depot is actually quite well positioned. The Midland Bluebird depots are the same too.

 

[stevenedin]

The one thing I've noticed with the West Lothian network is that it's quite well done for keeping dead mileage down. The location of the depot is actually quite well positioned. The Midland Bluebird depots are the same too.

I remember at one point there was depot routes like the 921 etc which ran to the depot in service. Also the X99 that used to run back to the depot from Edinburgh.

 

[Simon75]

The one thing I've noticed with the West Lothian network is that it's quite well done for keeping dead mileage down. The location of the depot is actually quite well positioned. The Midland Bluebird depots are the same too.

As someone who doesn't know the area, could you expand on that please

 

[PaulMc7]

As someone who doesn't know the area, could you expand on that please

The depot is very centralised for the services that they cover outside of the tour buses as they need to run dead to Edinburgh and back every single day. The 25 works as it can be brought off at the depot and some journeys start there early for example. The furthest distance from a journey start point to the depot involves the 26 as the first 2 start at Loganlea Square and 1 comes off there in the evening and according to Google Maps, it's a 6.6 mile journey.

More examples are that Seafield is only 2.6 miles away for the early 23s to Shotts, Whitburn is 6 miles away for the 23s coming off there, Broxburn is 5.6 miles away for the 23 and X24, Bathgate is 3.7 miles and East Calder is 5.3 miles. The other key thing on top of the short distances is that these journeys can also be done in very short periods of time of 10-20 mins at certain times.

That's pretty good compared to other areas.

 

[delt1c]

Well we were assured on 25th March a 100% service would be operated from 8th of May out of Livingston ,but this afternoon and evening not the case.1 afternoon missing on the 23 , and several missing this evening on the X24 and 25. Appreciate that these could be the result of last minute staffing issues but not good for the public. We are not even 1 week into the new timetable

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Well we were assured on 25th March a 100% service would be operated from 8th of May out of Livingston ,but this afternoon and evening not the case.1 afternoon missing on the 23 , and several missing this evening on the X24 and 25. Appreciate that these could be the result of last minute staffing issues but not good for the public. We are not even 1 week into the new timetable

Promise is a strong word, they could have said that they "will work continuously to try and reach a full service by 8th May."

 

[PaulMc7]

Promise is a strong word, they could have said that they "will work continuously to try and reach a full service by 8th May."

To be fair though, can any company really do anything about last minute cancellations especially on a Friday? Unless someone is really desperate for the extra money I doubt anyone would give up a free Friday to drive buses. The other issue is the negative side of part time work.

You'd probably get about 3-4 days at most out of staff on part time hours so it will probably be a while before the later end of the week is fully covered as it's the less desirable end of the week and you need more drivers to cover the full week if there are a growing number of part time staff.

Of course, another thing is that sickness is normal and part of any job in any industry so it's to be expected that McGill's will be suffering with it just like any other employer would.

While the situation isn't ideal, the public generally need to be patient and calm and let McGill's do what they can to get more staff in the door. It may take a while but they're trying and still cleaning up First's mess one day at a time.

 

[overthewater]

It doesn't help they won two council contract thus the new network needed more staff.

 

[PaulMc7]

How many drivers are required for the 20, 63 and 68 each week and when are they up for retender? I'm intrigued by what McGill's could do if they don't get them.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

I'm intrigued by what McGill's could do if they don't get them.

I think Sundays will be a sticking point in any bid they might make.

 

[PaulMc7]

I think Sundays will be a sticking point in any bid they might make.

I fully agree with you and that's why I was wondering how many drivers become available if they don't keep them. I expect the 31 to end up being operated by another depot so it leaves just anything Flixbus related or the tours until West Lothian Council work out what they want to do with their tenders. I wonder if McGill's would just use the extra drivers to boost weekday and Saturday services and how they'd go about it.

 

[scosutsut]

I fully agree with you and that's why I was wondering how many drivers become available if they don't keep them. I expect the 31 to end up being operated by another depot so it leaves just anything Flixbus related or the tours until West Lothian Council work out what they want to do with their tenders. I wonder if McGill's would just use the extra drivers to boost weekday and Saturday services and how they'd go about it.

It's they are still using agency drivers I'd expect they'd try to reduce that expense before trying to add to services or frequencies.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

I wonder if there are any plans to start buying some new buses for the McGills Scotland East operations.

They’ve been trying to modernise the fleet a lot but mainly with second hand stock. I thought there may have been some mention to upgrade even a few routes with new buses.

 

[christopherrfc]

Midland Bluebird fares review

Midland Bluebird Fares Review May 2023

Due to the end of NSG+ Scottish Government funding, ongoing rising operational costs and continued investment in our fleet...

www.mcgillsscotlandeast.co.uk

Midland Bluebird Fares Review May 2023​

Today Mon 15th May 2023

We’re making some changes to Midland Bluebird bus tickets from Monday 22nd May 2023 – but we’ll still offer great value so that you can spend as little as possible for unlimited travel across the Midland Bluebird network.
• Make your money go further with simplified ticket zones
• Value made easy with a streamlined product range
• Extra savings and flexibility with some brand-new tickets
What’s happening and why?
Since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, bus companies have received funding from the Scottish Government that has helped to keep services running. Passenger numbers plummeted to just 10% of ‘normal’ levels during the first lockdown and haven't yet fully recovered (due to behavioural changes over the last three years, such as working from home and shopping online).
That funding support expired at the end of March – at the same time as inflationary pressures making buses more expensive to run. We’re also investing millions in transforming our fleet to improve the comfort and quality of your journey, as well as looking after the environment. Plus, we’re giving our staff a well-earned pay increase after seeing us through some difficult times in recent years (and to boost our driver recruitment campaign, too).
Simplified ticket zones
We’ve taken the opportunity to simplify ticket zones and streamline our product range – making it easier than ever to navigate our network. And finally, we’re offering extra savings and flexibility with some brand-new tickets which are ideal for solo, group or family leisure activities.
We're replacing the current zone structure and with a new set of simpler zones. This includes swapping alphabetical codes with geographical names which are easier to understand.
Click here to view the new zone map for Midland Bluebird.
NEW Stirling & Clacks zone
Replacing zone B. Zone A will now be split between Stirling & Clacks and Falkirk zones.
NEW Trossachs zone
Replacing zones D + E. This includes the X10 and 59 services into Stirling town centre.
Falkirk zone
Remains unchanged and replaces zones C +D . Zone A will now be split between Falkirk and Stirling & Clacks zones.
NEW Forth Valley zone
Replacing zone C and also includes travel in zones A, B, C + L. This includes the X38 service as far as Winchburgh.
NEW Greater Glasgow zone
Replacing zones D & G
Brand-new tickets
Heading out with friends or family? Up to five people (of any age) can travel together all day with a brand-new GroupSaver ticket – from as little as £2.96 per person.
If you’re just going out as a pair, the brand-new DuoSaver knocks 25% off the cost you’d otherwise pay for a second DaySaver.
Lastly, if you’re meeting up with people for dinner, drinks or a movie, a brand-new EveningSaver will be 20% cheaper than a DaySaver.
New ticket prices
We've listed the new prices for all our tickets below. Don’t forget: you can travel more and spend less in the long-run when you choose a multi-journey ticket.
Tickets can be bought on-bus using cash or contactless, and mTickets are available in the McGill’s Scotland East app.

​

 

[PaulMc7]

Midland Bluebird fares review

The drop in price in the all zone ticket from £12.60 to £10 is certainly a great deal in the current climate, although I'm not surprised given that the X36 and X37 are very busy in and out of Glasgow when I've seen them. It'll certainly be a smart tactic to keep attracting more people to those services. In good weather, the journey into Stirling on the X10 is rather enjoyable too.

 

[stevenedin]

Midland Bluebird fares review

The McGill’s All Zones ticket is £10 yet on Eastern Scottish it is £12.60. It is a bit confusing.