Ember: Electric coach service

[Strathtay 260]

I was on the 14.19 E1 service from St Andrews Square to Aberdeen on Sunday 20th October. I booked a scottish concession ticket online, and was not charged a reservation fee. The coach was very smart, but we had an unplanned recharging stop at Dundee Greenmarket to get the batteries back to 40%. The winds were blamed.

Yesterday, two stops on the 20:45 E1 service from Edinburgh were cancelled (Walnut Grove and St Madoes) due to the bus not having enough charge. These stops had nobody booked onto them. This was due to the wind as well.

 

[smsm1]

I was on the 14.19 E1 service from St Andrews Square to Aberdeen on Sunday 20th October. I booked a scottish concession ticket online, and was not charged a reservation fee. The coach was very smart, but we had an unplanned recharging stop at Dundee Greenmarket to get the batteries back to 40%. The winds were blamed.

How long was the recharging stop?

 

[cumbrianbill]

My Google timeline shows 10 minutes at Dundee. We had a long stop at Kinross to keep to time, but no chargers there obviously.

 

[Buzby]

Ember have never charged a ‘Reservation’ fee which is why I’ll always support them in preference. As to the Greenmarket recharge - it’s a shame it’s so far away from everything- and too far to walk for a snack at Tesco Metro (Station) or Tesco Extra (across from the Chargepoint)… mind you, their Depot’s not much better!

 

[GusB]

Route One has published an interesting feature about Ember today. It's a bit too long to quote the whole thing, but of note were its plans for expansion.

Behind the scenes at electric intercity coach operator Ember

Infrastructure is captured as part of the ScotZEB2 funding, of which Ember is the biggest beneficiary. routeone goes behind the scenes

www.route-one.net

Rapid growth

Ember never sees anything as an end product, and nor does it

acknowledge the existence of a perfect vehicle. It already has plans for improvements to the 100 vehicles coming through ScotZEB2. It also wants to get ahead of the next generation of vehicle beyond those.

To accommodate running 140 vehicles, Ember has identified many sites for growth and a number are already being actively worked upon. Aberdeen comes next, and upgrades have been made to accommodate a site in Inverness with plans for a Thurso site by the conclusion of ScotZEB2. Those will join routes and charging hubs from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Oban and the Isle of Skye, connecting Scotland from north to south and east to west. Keith and Pierce are confident Aberdeen to Edinburgh will be the longest scheduled electric service in the UK. “It’s hard to make these claims,” they admit, “but we can’t think of anything remotely comparable.”

There’s a concept of “hubs” to consider. Inverness will be such one, with a wash bay, site building, charging points. Hubs will be supplemented by chargers and dedicated bays in other sites that act as a terminus point where vehicles can commence routes and recharge. Fort William, for example, will have a high-speed charger in an existing coach park.

The search for sites in England is also active as part of those expansion plans. Keith and Pierce are coy about where that will lead them.

“We have a very full pipeline of charging sites that we’re working on now. And then as we think about beyond Scotland and the rest of the UK we have flexibility on where we can go. Identifying a site similar to Dundee in England means we can be much more flexible about moving quickly. That’s a big benefit to our operating model. We have that flexibility built in, because we’re an expanding and scaling business.

“We’re on the hunt. But, if you imagine a site in Manchester, that could link to Glasgow, London or Bristol. Conversely, from Bristol we can reach Manchester, Sheffield, London, and Cornwall.”

I found it interesting that they're planning a site for Thurso. Is there enough demand for two operators running from the Far North?

 

[Strathtay 260]

Aberdeen service in full swing since 02:37 AM this morning

 

[route101]

I was on the 14.19 E1 service from St Andrews Square to Aberdeen on Sunday 20th October. I booked a scottish concession ticket online, and was not charged a reservation fee. The coach was very smart, but we had an unplanned recharging stop at Dundee Greenmarket to get the batteries back to 40%. The winds were blamed.

Was it the big Yutong coaches or the smaller ones?

 

[Strathtay 260]

Was it the big Yutong coaches or the smaller ones?

If it was going to Aberdeen, it would have been one of the big ones.

 

[Yorkshireguy]

Ember are fantastic - the buses are consistent and comfortable (the suspension is a big factor) and the drivers are always welcoming. I’m happy to spend a little more time sitting on one for a far superior on-board product to its competitors.

Wishing it all the best in its expansion to Aberdeen - it’s fascinating to look at the first few posts on this thread and see how far it’s come.

 

[cumbrianbill]

Was it the big Yutong coaches or the smaller ones?

It was an SG24 plate

 

[Strathtay 260]

Ember are fantastic - the buses are consistent and comfortable (the suspension is a big factor) and the drivers are always welcoming. I’m happy to spend a little more time sitting on one for a far superior on-board product to its competitors.

Completely agreed.

 

[kkong]

I get the feeling their recruitment process for drivers effectively filters out those who fail the RUK "attitude test".

 

[route101]

Will be interesting to see where Ember goes next. Glasgow to Aberdeen is likely.

 

[Buzby]

Will be interesting to see where Ember goes next. Glasgow to Aberdeen is likely.

I had thought of this, however since the Glasgow-Dundee service and Edinburgh-Aberdeen cross at Broxden it would be pointless duplication, if there could be a Glasgow-Inverness and the ability to transfer at Broxden to/from Edinburgh/Aberdeen it would be groundbreaking!

 

[Tayway]

Glasgow to Aberdeen via the A92 coastal route might be a possibility as was previously suggested.

 

[Stena Galloway]

I had thought of this, however since the Glasgow-Dundee service and Edinburgh-Aberdeen cross at Broxden it would be pointless duplication, if there could be a Glasgow-Inverness and the ability to transfer at Broxden to/from Edinburgh/Aberdeen it would be groundbreaking!

Groundbreaking????
Citylink have been doing it for years and Flix are doing it as well!

 

[Buzby]

Groundbreaking????

In an Electric vehicle?

Glasgow to Aberdeen via the A92 coastal route might be a possibility as was previously suggested.

Needless duplication? (Even if via Montrose/Stonehaven). Now, Inverness would make a difference.

 

[Yorkshireguy]

I had thought of this, however since the Glasgow-Dundee service and Edinburgh-Aberdeen cross at Broxden it would be pointless duplication, if there could be a Glasgow-Inverness and the ability to transfer at Broxden to/from Edinburgh/Aberdeen it would be groundbreaking!

The E1 doesn’t stop at Broxden - doing so would simply take too long. Suspect how Glasgow-Aberdeen and Glasgow/Edinburgh-Inverness is structured will depend on how well the new services perform (esp. with Edinburgh-Dundee now at 2bph). They could do with getting multi-service booking working!

 

[Volvodart]

Will be interesting to see where Ember goes next. Glasgow to Aberdeen is likely.

Unless they reduce the Edinburgh service, there cannot be that many of the triaxles that they have there already not in use currently.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Groundbreaking????
Citylink have been doing it for years and Flix are doing it as well!

Megabus sold or sell connections at Broxden too.

 

[kkong]

I would prefer direct services which don't call at Broxden, even if they take longer.

The place is horrible.

What I heard from on-board staff is that Aberdeen-Inverness and Aberdeen-Glasgow are next.

However seeing what others have posted on this thread about "upcoming" routes, I'd take that with a large pinch of salt.

 

[Strathtay 260]

The next route will very likely be Aberdeen to Glasgow, as originally, they had planned for the Aberdeen to Glasgow service to follow the Edinburgh one. Going down the coastal route would be great for broader coverage (and it would bring the service closer to me!), but it’s apparent that Brechin has a significant demand for bus services. A coastal route would also worsen Ember's already lengthy end-to-end journey times. I’ve joined some Brechin community groups on Facebook, and everyone is genuinely excited about the new Ember service. They’re calling it a “lifeline,” finally directly connected to Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Given this enthusiasm, I suspect the route will go via Brechin, providing them with a half-hourly service to both Aberdeen and Dundee.

Unless they reduce the Edinburgh service, there cannot be that many of the triaxles that they have there already not in use currently.

From Route One:

The company now has eyes not just on the introduction of 100 further zero-emission coaches scheduled for phased introduction in 2025 and 2026, but, following conclusion of ScotZEB2, an ambition to introduce up to 100 vehicles per year to its network.

I highly doubt they would worsen the service between Aberdeen and Edinburgh!

 

[Volvodart]

I highly doubt they would worsen the service between Aberdeen and Edinburgh!

What I was meaning if they are doing anything soon, they are likely to only have enough coaches to extend the existing Glasgow service to Aberdeen.

-------
New post 1/11/2024

From the 100 coach Scotzeb2 funding Ember has received, 42 Yutong GTe14's are currently on order.

Pelican pushing ahead with plans - Bus & Coach Buyer

Pelican Bus and Coach called a pre-show briefing to update the market with the latest news, including a burgeoning order book and a new 14m coach

www.busandcoachbuyer.com

 

[Strathtay 260]

Ember's Christmas Day timetables are now on bustimes.org and available to book on ember.to

Summary:

E1 Aberdeen/Dundee to Edinburgh - Five services to Edinburgh running in each direction. Three of which starting and ending in Dundee, and the other two starting and ending in at Bridge of Don P&R.
E3 Dundee to Glasgow - Three services running in each direction
E3X Dundee/Perth to Glasgow - no services are running (source: ember.to) despite bustimes.org claiming it's running to a full service.
E10 East Dundee to Dundee City Centre - Six services in each direction running connecting with the three E3s and three E1s starting in Dundee.

 

[Sealink]

Is their charging point/depot in Inverness open yet? Big expansion coming there, and hopefully a bit of real competition for Citylink/Megabus there.

 

[Tayway]

Was on an E1 today and noticed they've added some next stop displays to the tri-axle coaches, one at the front and one half way down. Most screens leave a lot to be desired, but these were looked very smart, and display the estimated arrival time at the next stop which is handy.

 

[kkong]

Was on an E1 today and noticed they've added some next stop displays to the tri-axle coaches, one at the front and one half way down. Most screens leave a lot to be desired, but these were looked very smart, and display the estimated arrival time at the next stop which is handy.

Here are two photos of the screen above the toilet from an E1 service (on a GTe14) yesterday.

Another GTe14 which I was on later in the day had both screens inoperative.

 

[route101]

Looks smart. Not tried the new full size Ember Yutongs. I believe they run from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

 

[Buzby]

I believe they run from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

Glasgow too!

 

[route101]

Looks like Fort William is next for Ember. https://www.facebook.com/RideEmber