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

[Baileygirl]

What is the current situation of the new Volvo BZL buses. It seems to have gone quiet after the first ones were spotted a month ago.

 

[Scotrail314209]

One thing I’m noticing since the 100 has been moved to Waverley Bridge, the bus pulls away then sits for ages at the traffic lights. It seems to be at least two or three cycles before you get moving.

 

[stevenedin]

One thing I’m noticing since the 100 has been moved to Waverley Bridge, the bus pulls away then sits for ages at the traffic lights. It seems to be at least two or three cycles before you get moving.

I’ve also noticed that there isn’t much space for them all to queue up. There seems to be at least 3 Airlink buses at the stop and 1 or 2 Bright Bus Airport Express buses.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

I’ve also noticed that there isn’t much space for them all to queue up. There seems to be at least 3 Airlink buses at the stop and 1 or 2 Bright Bus Airport Express buses.

I've been there and seen it a few times and I've not seen more than one Bright Bus, whereas I've seen three Airlink buses, though generally there's one or two Airlink buses at a time, I was there at midday and there wasn't a single bus there!! I've observed that drivers for Airlink don't have as much of a resting period as they once did before the longer route and frequency increase to every 9 minutes, perhaps it's on purpose but I thought it'd be wise to have longer terminus times for Airlink to win passengers over Bright Bus with the bus being right there and at the front as Bright Bus wouldn't have time to reach the front of the queue, the con to this though is the passengers.

A disappointing thing I have noticed on Lothian's end is their advisors don't really seem to be telling people which buses to get on. One person asked if "it is the place to get to the Airport," and the advisor just said yes and they hopped onto a Bright Bus. The Lothian staff members seem to be having conversations with themselves mainly, more than doing their job that they've been paid to do. In contrast, the Bright Bus staff seem to be asking random people on the street if they are going to the Airport or if they want to go on their tours. I hope someone at Lothian lets the staff know that it's not great that select members of staff aren't doing their jobs properly.

And I am not suggesting that staff shouldn't be able to chat with each other on their jobs, because some may be good friends, but when Bright Bus staff speak to each other, they will still generally ask people if they want to use their buses or if they are heading to the Airport.

 

[cam22]

Think this was brought up before but I’ve been on about 10 buses the last week both Lothian city and country and not one had next stop information working. What’s going on as this used to be pretty reliable on Lothian?

 

[Darklord8899]

Think this was brought up before but I’ve been on about 10 buses the last week both Lothian city and country and not one had next stop information working. What’s going on as this used to be pretty reliable on Lothian?

From memory, they were working on all my buses last week, with the exception of a couple of 2's I was on, which had audio, but no screens installed for visuals and one of those, I think, was completely new audio, it was a different voice.

 

[cam22]

Most of the buses I’ve been on have been XLBs and a couple other types. Maybe as you say a new voice is coming? What did it sound like is it still female with an Edinburgh accent?

 

[Blindtraveler]

I've been there and seen it a few times and I've not seen more than one Bright Bus, whereas I've seen three Airlink buses, though generally there's one or two Airlink buses at a time, I was there at midday and there wasn't a single bus there!! I've observed that drivers for Airlink don't have as much of a resting period as they once did before the longer route and frequency increase to every 9 minutes, perhaps it's on purpose but I thought it'd be wise to have longer terminus times for Airlink to win passengers over Bright Bus with the bus being right there and at the front as Bright Bus wouldn't have time to reach the front of the queue, the con to this though is the passengers.

A disappointing thing I have noticed on Lothian's end is their advisors don't really seem to be telling people which buses to get on. One person asked if "it is the place to get to the Airport," and the advisor just said yes and they hopped onto a Bright Bus. The Lothian staff members seem to be having conversations with themselves mainly, more than doing their job that they've been paid to do. In contrast, the Bright Bus staff seem to be asking random people on the street if they are going to the Airport or if they want to go on their tours. I hope someone at Lothian lets the staff know that it's not great that select members of staff aren't doing their jobs properly.

And I am not suggesting that staff shouldn't be able to chat with each other on their jobs, because some may be good friends, but when Bright Bus staff speak to each other, they will still generally ask people if they want to use their buses or if they are heading to the Airport.

I'm obviously behind the times, has airlink moved back to Waverly bridge and bright bus altered to terminate there as well rather than running to regent road? The slightly easier connection from the station afforded by bright bus will be missed if that's the case

 

[cam22]

Yes the move to Waverly Br for Airlink is only temporary while works on Jenners are ongoing. They will move back to the old location when the Jenners work is complete.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Most of the buses I’ve been on have been XLBs and a couple other types. Maybe as you say a new voice is coming? What did it sound like is it still female with an Edinburgh accent?

It'll have been bus 10 which has a trial announcement system. Its rather annoying with it announcing connecting bus routes at every stop (including scheduled special services and night buses). On occasion it'll also announce how many minutes away the terminus is, useless information to most.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Can someone confirm that with the recent chance to the Lothian Country fare structure, that a single ticket from CityWest to CountryWest A is now £2 as opposed to £3 as it was before?.

I saw on the website but wasn't sure if it was 100% accurate.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Can someone confirm that with the recent chance to the Lothian Country fare structure, that a single ticket from CityWest to CountryWest A is now £2 as opposed to £3 as it was before?.

I saw on the website but wasn't sure if it was 100% accurate.

It should be £3 as far as I understand. Two zones is £2 only between City and CityWest. Perhaps worth flagging up.

The change here is that the CountryWEST dayticket is now permitted in the CityWest zone so the dayticket has been reduced by £3. This isn't correctly shown either.

 

[computerSaysNo]

It'll have been bus 10 which has a trial announcement system. Its rather annoying with it announcing connecting bus routes at every stop (including scheduled special services and night buses). On occasion it'll also announce how many minutes away the terminus is, useless information to most.

As in 7900H bus 10? That's surprising. The 7900s still have non-standard destination equipment do they not? So it could be linked to that. If it's a general Lothian thing to install announcements in buses that don't already have them then I'm surprised they're not going for the easy buses first like the 66-plate diesel Gemini 3s or the 15-plate hybrid Gemini 3s.

 

[Darklord8899]

It'll have been bus 10 which has a trial announcement system. Its rather annoying with it announcing connecting bus routes at every stop (including scheduled special services and night buses). On occasion it'll also announce how many minutes away the terminus is, useless information to most.

Yes, exactly as you say

Most of the buses I’ve been on have been XLBs and a couple other types. Maybe as you say a new voice is coming? What did it sound like is it still female with an Edinburgh accent?

See post #12,370

As in 7900H bus 10? That's surprising. The 7900s still have non-standard destination equipment do they not? So it could be linked to that. If it's a general Lothian thing to install announcements in buses that don't already have them then I'm surprised they're not going for the easy buses first like the 66-plate diesel Gemini 3s or the 15-plate hybrid Gemini 3s.

Yes, it was a 7900H on service 2.
I've also noticed that 5 and 8 (think it is those two) have the new AVL's fitted
- only mentioning as a few folks in here have speculated about how long 1-10 have left in service....

 

[Bus9120UK]

Yes, it was a 7900H on service 2.
I've also noticed that 5 and 8 (think it is those two) have the new AVL's fitted
- only mentioning as a few folks in here have speculated about how long 1-10 have left in service....

Not sure if these are really correlated as the entire fleet is having them fitted regardless of how long they've got left. All of 1-10 have their AVLs with only around 30 left to fit in the entire fleet.
On this matter though, I can't see 1-10 going anytime soon.

 

[Auld reekie]

Was on the 32 for the first today 11.40 and the stretch from Balerno to the Gyle there were about 12 passengers which I thought was quite good.

 

[CSB0241]

Think this was brought up before but I’ve been on about 10 buses the last week both Lothian city and country and not one had next stop information working. What’s going on as this used to be pretty reliable on Lothian?

I was on 689 this afternoon & they were working.

Can someone confirm that with the recent chance to the Lothian Country fare structure, that a single ticket from CityWest to CountryWest A is now £2 as opposed to £3 as it was before?.

I saw on the website but wasn't sure if it was 100% accurate.

£3. £2 for two zones is only for the City & CityWest zone.

As in 7900H bus 10? That's surprising. The 7900s still have non-standard destination equipment do they not? So it could be linked to that. If it's a general Lothian thing to install announcements in buses that don't already have them then I'm surprised they're not going for the easy buses first like the 66-plate diesel Gemini 3s or the 15-plate hybrid Gemini 3s.

I was on 10 this afternoon too & it had stop announcements. The difference was that the woman’s voice was deeper & it listed all connecting routes at each stop. It notably didn’t say “next stop” & just listed the stop name & connections.

 

[Siemens Trains]

Can someone confirm that with the recent chance to the Lothian Country fare structure, that a single ticket from CityWest to CountryWest A is now £2 as opposed to £3 as it was before?.

I saw on the website but wasn't sure if it was 100% accurate.

Looks like there's a £1 premium for passengers coming into the city....

 

[cam22]

I was on a 43 yesterday and there were no next stop announcements so maybe it depends what route people are travelling on. They haven’t worked on the 43 and 47 for at least 4 weeks now.

 

[stevenedin]

I was on the 26 yesterday and it didn’t work, was also on a 25 and it did work.

 

[iij]

Why are all the country buses double decker? Surely single deckers are more cost-effective given the lower passenger numbers.

 

[stevenedin]

Why are all the country buses double decker? Surely single deckers are more cost-effective given the lower passenger numbers.

In my opinion it’s probably easier to interwork with other routes and also because the majority of the routes are hourly, they need the extra capacity.

There is also the fact that it allows for growth and if people see a double decker it is more prominent and may grab people’s attention who didn’t know that the route operated.

You only have to speak to people and there is a lot of people who generally don’t have a clue about which buses or operators run them. A few examples of this are that some people didn’t realise that Lothian didn’t already run the 20.

I have also spoken to someone who thought that West Lothian has more bussee than they have ever had before (of course this was coming from a full time car driver).

 

[ScotRail158725]

Why are all the country buses double decker? Surely single deckers are more cost-effective given the lower passenger numbers.

What lower passenger numbers? Bar the 70 and 71 its rare to see a quiet bus

 

[Baileygirl]

Why are all the country buses double decker? Surely single deckers are more cost-effective given the lower passenger numbers.

Lothian Country don't have any single deckers at the moment. Is there any spare at the other depots which can be transferred, considering Lothian needed more for the 20 and 32?

 

[Blindtraveler]

Given the MCV Volvos are pretty much committed to the 30 and the rest are either elderly or unreliable or both. The answer to that question I think is no, they could dabble in the second-hand market if they needed to urgently. But in all honesty, I suspect that we're going to see a diesel single deck order from them in the not too distant, probably going down the Volvo MCV route once more and a probable electric single deck order for the city services and wholesale 7900 replacement.

 

[Lothianbus703]

Given the MCV Volvos are pretty much committed to the 30 and the rest are either elderly or unreliable or both. The answer to that question I think is no, they could dabble in the second-hand market if they needed to urgently. But in all honesty, I suspect that we're going to see a diesel single deck order from them in the not too distant, probably going down the Volvo MCV route once more and a probable electric single deck order for the city services and hole scale 7900 replacement

What elderly and unreliable single deckers do Lothian have?

Trentbarton is soon going to replace their high specification B7RLEs (high back seating, usb charging) from 2008-2009 which I think would be a good choice for Lothian if they really needed single deckers.
I'm sure there are other good buses on the market as well though.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

Lothian Country don't have any single deckers at the moment. Is there any spare at the other depots which can be transferred, considering Lothian needed more for the 20 and 32?

I was curious to see how the passenger numbers were after a week. I've heard nothing about the 20, but I've heard some buzz about the 32.

The 70/71 routes seem quiet, but to be fair, it's only been a week. I was on a 71 this afternoon, and there were only 7-8 passengers all the way to Queensferry. I understand why people think they shouldn't use double-deckers on these routes, but they don't have a choice. The larger buses do make the services look more appealing.

I think Lothian Country should have done a roadshow in both Kirkliston and Ratho before launching the services to build awareness and inform the communities of the benefits. It is a missed opportunity, but as I said, it's only been a week. Maybe in a month, the 70/71 will be popular buses that demand double-deckers!

 

[cnjb8]

What elderly and unreliable single deckers do Lothian have?

Trentbarton is soon going to replace their high specification B7RLEs (high back seating, usb charging) from 2008-2009 which I think would be a good choice for Lothian if they really needed single deckers.
I'm sure there are other good buses on the market as well though.

The B7RLEs are staying with Wellglade and would probably be too old for Lothian

 

[Bus9120UK]

I was curious to see how the passenger numbers were after a week. I've heard nothing about the 20, but I've heard some buzz about the 32.

The 70/71 routes seem quiet, but to be fair, it's only been a week. I was on a 71 this afternoon, and there were only 7-8 passengers all the way to Queensferry. I understand why people think they shouldn't use double-deckers on these routes, but they don't have a choice. The larger buses do make the services look more appealing.

I think Lothian Country should have done a roadshow in both Kirkliston and Ratho before launching the services to build awareness and inform the communities of the benefits. It is a missed opportunity, but as I said, it's only been a week. Maybe in a month, the 70/71 will be popular buses that demand double-deckers!

There are busier journeys, but it is important to remember that these are council contract services because they aren't be commercially viable. There should be no expectations for these buses to get really busy all day.

 

[JKP]

I was curious to see how the passenger numbers were after a week. I've heard nothing about the 20, but I've heard some buzz about the 32.

The 70/71 routes seem quiet, but to be fair, it's only been a week. I was on a 71 this afternoon, and there were only 7-8 passengers all the way to Queensferry. I understand why people think they shouldn't use double-deckers on these routes, but they don't have a choice. The larger buses do make the services look more appealing.

I think Lothian Country should have done a roadshow in both Kirkliston and Ratho before launching the services to build awareness and inform the communities of the benefits. It is a missed opportunity, but as I said, it's only been a week. Maybe in a month, the 70/71 will be popular buses that demand double-deckers!

It is the school holidays. Some regulations users of these routes may be away. It is also in my long experience that passenger flows are different between school terms and school holidays.