Bus News

More work at Ladywood so the 47 is being diverted (again....did they not do this only a while ago?)

http://lothianbuses.com/plan-a-journey/service-update/ladywood-from-monday-2-december

More bus diversions on the 37 in Loanhead this time:

http://www.lothianbuses.com/plan-a-journey/service-update/nivens-knowe-road-from-monday-17-february-2014

Thanks, that journey is long enough without a detour via IKEA. I shall try to avoid using the 37 at all costs for the duration of the road works.

It seems as if there is a law that all buses to Penicuik must be diverted for as much time as possible every year. It is getting to the stage where the normal routes will seem like a diversion! Another sign of progress is that it used to take 30 - 45 minutes travel time in the 80s and 90s but now you have to allow 1 hour plus in the 21st Century!

  

Looks like these roadworks have been cancelled as the link has now gone from the Lothian Buses site - no doubt it will pop up again soon to ensure that the buses are delayed as much as possible!

Some changes to the Firstbus services in the Borders including the 62 no longer serving Melrose but will now operate every 20 minutes daytime Mon-Sat & 30 mins on a Sunday as service X62;

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scottish_borders/travel_news/service_updates/?item=10801&conf=0

Back to the Future as the roadworks on Rullion Road return causing bus diversions just like a few months ago. You would never guess that the council are doing the work when it takes 5 weeks!

http://www.lothianbuses.com/plan-a-journey/service-update/penicuik-deanburn-from-monday-28-april

  

Some changes to the buses, including the 15 being extended to Prestonpans!!
http://lothianbuses.com/assets/files/140601_ServiceChanges.pdf

Diversion changed again

http://lothianbuses.com/service-updates/details/penicuik-deanburn-from-monday-19-may

The lucky people of Cornbank now either have to walk along to the stop at Bog Road or Laverock Drive to catch the bus - I suppose there are only 1000 houses so they don't really matter too much!

Rullion Road open again....bet they had to give the drivers a refresher course on where to go as it has been so long!

Festive timetables are now on line from Lothian, http://lothianbuses.com/news/article/christmas-new-year-services-2014-15

Looks pretty much like last years...

And it looks like the Pen-Y-Cog buses from Lothian are on the way out as several of them have been now repainted in plain colours......could we be due a reduction in service next year? I suspect that passenger numbers have gone down due to the roadwork delays and people switching to the faster X62 service.

Could be or just them trying to standardise liveries instead of having various different ones and they are now looking a bit tired now..

The annoying thing is that the repainted buses still have the same faded and worn upholstery while some newer vehicles have had the new seat covers fitted to them!
No sign of any new buses here as the latest ones seem to be on the 33 route.
http://lothianbuses.com/news/article/New-additions-to-the-Lothian-Buses-fleet

Possible changes to Penicuik services coming in March with the 15 maybe going to miss out Auchendinny and suggestions that the 37 or 47 could get diverted to serve the village. Hopefully we are not going to go back in time to the days of the Eastern Scottish number 70 which went round Loanhead and Roslin before eventually getting to Penicuik (town centre only). I wonder how long that journey would take now compared to the 1 hour + back in the 20th Century?

Changes to the buses are revealed and they are very crazy! 15 misses out Auchendinny and Roslin, 37 goes via Roslin or terminates at the Bush, 40 now goes via Auchendinny and minor changes to 47. Hopefully full details will be out soon on Lothian Buses site.

http://www.busandcoachforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=11222&start=1480

More details on this crazy set up on the Penicuik Cuckoo site here:

http://www.penicuikcuckoo.co.uk/2015/02/lothian-buses-routes-altered/

15 to Deanburn makes sense in that it keeps 4 buses an hour to here and serves the High School & Leisure Centre (assuming they put bus stops up), not entirely sure of much demand for it - what does make sense is making it a more direct service into Edinburgh

37 Not entirely sure why this is now going via Roslin, if anything I would have thought it would stay as current and if anything the 47 serve Roslin but it is surely good that Roslin gets a decent bus service. Not sure about the reduced frequency but sometime they do run very light out of Penicuik

47 The one thing they should do with this is reroute it back to operating via The Bridges instead of the West End. Will be positive to get more Sunday journeys

40 Good that this will go via Auchendinny, on the other hand it seems a joke that Auchendinny will lose its link to the City.

X37 Well we just have to wait and see, ideally it will be improved but on previous experience I suspect they'll just add a few extra stops in - hope I'm wrong though...

musicman wrote:

X37 Well we just have to wait and see, ideally it will be improved but on previous experience I suspect they'll just add a few extra stops in - hope I'm wrong though...

Maybe it will be renamed to the XS37 for Xtra Slow instead of Express - Lothian Buses should really get reported to Advertising Standards for calling the current X37 and "express" service!

I'm not sure I like the idea of the 37 going via Roslin but I'm sure there will be those in Loanhead who may like it even less. I certainly wouldn't want the 47 diverted through Roslin though. I use it in the morning and sometimes during the day and the journey takes long enough at the moment.

Lots more info on the bus changes on the Bus and Coach Forum here:

http://www.busandcoachforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=11222&sid=45b96ae63360577af1c06031bbddfa09&start=1520

Well, if I am reading it correctly the 37 seems to be running the route that it's predecessor used to go via Loanhead and Roslin many years ago.
If that is the case I definitely won't be using it in future. However, I note that there will be an extra 7 more X37s in the morning and 8 extra
during the evening rush hour which will be very welcome.

Official news release from Lothian Buses but no timetables yet:

http://lothianbuses.com/news/article/service-changes-from-sunday-29-march

Evening News gives a realistic story:

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/transport/lothian-buses-announces-cuts-to-rural-services-1-3704813

I note that there is nothing about the extra X37s, only that there will be 'Only minor changes to departure times'

The timetables are live on Lothians site you just need to click on the service number. By extra X37s I think they really meant the X37s are extras in the 37 timetable and not extra to what we have already...

Great article in the Evening News - I thought you had to be able to read to be ajournalist?!

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/transport/village-to-lose-only-bus-service-1-3709709

This could be a fun day out!

http://lothianbuses.com/news/article/service-change-roadshow