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

[jb66]

Hopefully it goes to the park and ride, currently concession card holders don't have a non bookable free direct option from Ingilston P & R to the city centre (Tram only free for Edinburgh residents)

 

[Theproinsider]

There have been a few legal challenges in the past to some of these ‘restrictions’ and ‘exclusive’ deals at UK Airports, and they largely have no legal standing.

Private land, private road. If airport grants no access, who's going to pay that legal bill?

 

[CN04NRJ]

The only real benefit of the new Airport service that I can see is the stop at Waverley Steps. St Andrews Square (for the Airlink 100) is only 2 mins away, but when people have got luggage they’ll always go for the convenient option - so I reckon anyone arriving by train into Waverley will just take the first bus they can find, which will be the Bright Bus Express

When there's no more luggage storage or seats after a handful of people what will they do then?

It's a high passenger volume service, E300s are just not going to cut it. Coaches would have been much better but obviously that'd require investment rather than doing it as cheap as possible.

I suppose the E300s will have to be euro 6 upgraded now though!

 

[Jordan Adam]

I suppose the E300s will have to be euro 6 upgraded now though!

I believe most of the Enviro300s already are Euro 6.

 

[CN04NRJ]

I believe most of the Enviro300s already are Euro 6.

That's good news, still a few incompliant vehicles being used by various companies.

 

[NorthClyde320]

Another day of mass cancellations and part journeys with the 23 badly hit, 16.32, 17.32, 18.32 and 19.32 ex Shotts all cancelled, but no doubt still getting paid as these are part supported. Imo McGills should face a heavy penalty once they finally exit West Lothian in December for all the disruption they have caused people since taking over from First, and for all First's faults it was never as bad at McGills have made it.

 

[Baileygirl]

Another day of mass cancellations and part journeys with the 23 badly hit, 16.32, 17.32, 18.32 and 19.32 ex Shotts all cancelled, but no doubt still getting paid as these are part supported. Imo McGills should face a heavy penalty once they finally exit West Lothian in December for all the disruption they have caused people since taking over from First, and for all First's faults it was never as bad at McGills have made it.

No buses to Shotts after 2pm today. How to they get away with this?

 

[sannox]

Private land, private road. If airport grants no access, who's going to pay that legal bill?

It is private land but not private roads - they have signs explaining distinction as you enter. Airport bylaws cover most roads acts.

Nevertheless, airports can't abuse a dominant position. This has been made clear in legal actions for example the High Court case of Arriva The Shires v London Luton Airport and others. Thus no access seems unlikely.

When there's no more luggage storage or seats after a handful of people what will they do then?

It's a high passenger volume service, E300s are just not going to cut it. Coaches would have been much better but obviously that'd require investment rather than doing it as cheap as possible.

People gravitate to other services available if full? Perhaps they are happy with busy low loading cheap buses?

Another day of mass cancellations and part journeys with the 23 badly hit, 16.32, 17.32, 18.32 and 19.32 ex Shotts all cancelled, but no doubt still getting paid as these are part supported.

I believe the supported payments aren't made if the journey doesn't operate.

 

[stevenedin]

When there's no more luggage storage or seats after a handful of people what will they do then?

It's a high passenger volume service, E300s are just not going to cut it. Coaches would have been much better but obviously that'd require investment rather than doing it as cheap as possible.

I suppose the E300s will have to be euro 6 upgraded now though!

Maybe they are just starting out to test the water then will get newer or better cascaded buses if it takes off.

Another day of mass cancellations and part journeys with the 23 badly hit, 16.32, 17.32, 18.32 and 19.32 ex Shotts all cancelled, but no doubt still getting paid as these are part supported. Imo McGills should face a heavy penalty once they finally exit West Lothian in December for all the disruption they have caused people since taking over from First, and for all First's faults it was never as bad at McGills have made it.

I agree, the mess and disruption they have caused since taking over from First is shocking.

 

[delt1c]

After the way Mc Gills have treated West Lothian can only hope for Karma

 

[Ricky Kane]

8492 was withdrawn about 6 months ago and has been parked at the back of Bannockburn since so its unlikely to be that


Pretty much confirms the earlier theory of these operating under Bright bus on a likely airport route

8485 has been painted too.

 

[stevenedin]

I decided to take a run on the full route of the 26 this afternoon from Bathgate to Livingston North. I took down the number of passengers and counted 43 in total for the whole journey. You can see the numbers below:

Just after Fauldhouse 14

Arriving Livingston Centre 36

After Livingston Centre 40

Arriving St John’s Hospital 41

After St John’s Hospital 42

Livingston North Station 43

These are the numbers counting up so you’ll see the number of passengers in total by each point. There were some getting off in between but the busiest section I saw was West Calder to Livingston Centre. I also didn’t include any children under 5.

The journey was on 8951. I’m assuming that this journey made a loss with most using concession cards.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

I don’t know if this is the right topic for it.

I’ve just seen an orange Enviro 300 passing through Kirkintilloch. Are these being painted at Ferrymill in Torrance by any chance?

Plus, are the interiors being refurbished?

If that hasn’t been done, I can only assume going up against already established bus services from the airport to Edinburgh city centre, that this new BrightBus is simply a cash grab?

Right or Wrong?

 

[ChrisPJ]

Has this airport service been confirmed or is it all just rumour and speculation at the moment? For all we know these buses could be getting deployed on some university shuttle or competition on the South Queensferry corridor.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Has this airport service been confirmed or is it all just rumour and speculation at the moment? For all we know these buses could be getting deployed on some university shuttle or competition on the South Queensferry corridor.

Drivers were told that this is what they would be doing.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Drivers were told that this is what they would be doing.

The existing service drivers that were at Livingston Depot?

Spineless..

 

[Observer]

The existing service drivers that were at Livingston Depot?

Spineless..

It's not exactly a well kept secret. Even drivers at Larbert know it to be the case, especially when the buses are getting painted there. Just waiting for the registration to be made, still nothing has shown up on that yet.

Whether you agree it to be the right call or not, clearly McGill's want drivers still to have work of some sort, especially if it can talk people out of not going to Lothian whose new services are limited in frequency anyway.

I’ve just seen an orange Enviro 300 passing through Kirkintilloch. Are these being painted at Ferrymill in Torrance by any chance?

Plus, are the interiors being refurbished?

If that hasn’t been done, I can only assume going up against already established bus services from the airport to Edinburgh city centre, that this new BrightBus is simply a cash grab?

Not sure if they are involved but there are other McGill's paint shops at Johnstone and Greenock. Could be the case they have offloaded some to Ferrymill to get more Bluebird repaints done though.

As for the interior I would assume the only thing that would be getting done to them is fitting of luggage racks and removal of some seats. I think the E400MMCs had some but not sure if they can be retrofitted to them.

 

[Bus9120UK]

It's not exactly a well kept secret. Even drivers at Larbert know it to be the case, especially when the buses are getting painted there. Just waiting for the registration to be made, still nothing has shown up on that yet.

Whether you agree it to be the right call or not, clearly McGill's want drivers still to have work of some sort, especially if it can talk people out of not going to Lothian whose new services are limited in frequency anyway.

Not sure if they are involved but there are other McGill's paint shops at Johnstone and Greenock. Could be the case they have offloaded some to Ferrymill to get more Bluebird repaints done though.

As for the interior I would assume the only thing that would be getting done to them is fitting of luggage racks and removal of some seats. I think the E400MMCs had some but not sure if they can be retrofitted to them.

I also emailed McGill's regarding it and they said 'We cannot provide any more information about this at this time' - also more or less confirming it.

I've noticed the City Swift branding has been removed from the website and some of the buses. I wonder why this is?

 

[Ricky Kane]

I also emailed McGill's regarding it and they said 'We cannot provide any more information about this at this time' - also more or less confirming it.

I've noticed the City Swift branding has been removed from the website and some of the buses. I wonder why this is?

I Think theres a Irish Company that owns City Swift Brand Name.

Photo Shows bus missing City Branding.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1124480494961168384/1174087609576869949/image.png?ex=6566514b&is=6553dc4b&hm=46c658e625a111c460518d04d8b9e4b83e925964a53236f2bbf71dfbb71b132c

 

[Stan Drews]

I also emailed McGill's regarding it and they said 'We cannot provide any more information about this at this time' - also more or less confirming it.

I've noticed the City Swift branding has been removed from the website and some of the buses. I wonder why this is?

Might be related to…

CitySwift: Mobility Intelligence as a Service

CitySwift’s industry-leading mobility intelligence software delivers real-time data analysis and actionable insights to improve public transport network performance, service reliability and passenger experience.

www.cityswift.com

or maybe the fact that some bus enthusiast complained Falkirk wasn’t a City.

 

[Ridercross]

I Think theres a Irish Company that owns City Swift Brand Name.

Photo Shows bus missing City Branding.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1124480494961168384/1174087609576869949/image.png?ex=6566514b&is=6553dc4b&hm=46c658e625a111c460518d04d8b9e4b83e925964a53236f2bbf71dfbb71b132c

Yes, City Swift is an Irish software firm that provides data analysis, timetabling etc services to several bus companies. So I wouldn't be surprised to see them unhappy at one particular bus company using the same name and trying to get them remove that name if possible.

 

[Jordan Adam]

They just need to remove the "swift" part now as the X37 especially is anything but swift.

 

[overthewater]

They could always call it the Glasgow Swift...

 

[CN04NRJ]

It's not exactly a well kept secret. Even drivers at Larbert know it to be the case, especially when the buses are getting painted there. Just waiting for the registration to be made, still nothing has shown up on that yet.

Whether you agree it to be the right call or not, clearly McGill's want drivers still to have work of some sort, especially if it can talk people out of not going to Lothian whose new services are limited in frequency anyway.

Not sure if they are involved but there are other McGill's paint shops at Johnstone and Greenock. Could be the case they have offloaded some to Ferrymill to get more Bluebird repaints done though.

As for the interior I would assume the only thing that would be getting done to them is fitting of luggage racks and removal of some seats. I think the E400MMCs had some but not sure if they can be retrofitted to them.

Surely they need to go for recertification? A big investment in near end of life vehicles.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Surely they need to go for recertification? A big investment in near end of life vehicles.

Recertification (aka a VTP5) isn’t actually expensive. The bigger challenge is finding a slot with DVSA to look at it, which can take months……

 

[roadierway77]

Yes, City Swift is an Irish software firm that provides data analysis, timetabling etc services to several bus companies. So I wouldn't be surprised to see them unhappy at one particular bus company using the same name and trying to get them remove that name if possible.

Huddl Mobility Limited trades as CitySwift and owns the trademark. The trademark allows them to use it in the context of 'Bus transport services' along many others, so I assume McGill’s have been using the CitySwift brand without permission and illegally! There's no way that McGill's wouldn't have been aware of that when the brand was launched, which means they were probably hoping that they wouldn't be caught out.

Trademark info is here:

https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003403442

 

[Observer]

Recertification (aka a VTP5) isn’t actually expensive. The bigger challenge is finding a slot with DVSA to look at it, which can take months……

Can they not arrange it through their own MOT stations for that though? Larbert has one as does Livingston I believe.

 

[Ricky Kane]

They have now added X36 & X37 branding were the City Branding was.

 

[Anthony ross]

So would this be the first cock-up since Alex Hornsby joined McGills with the city swift brand

 

[318266]

So would this be the first cock-up since Alex Hornsby joined McGills with the city swift brand

Other than the choice of a default Windows font for the displays... which is completely unintelligible on certain boards