Some more bus changes

Does anyone know what the problem was with the buses earlier this evening? At one point my bus reached the foot of the bridges and the lights changed 5 times before we were able to move

It seems that Lothian Buses are sticking to their 3BAAT timetable for services coming in to Penicuik (3 buses at a time) with the 15, 37 and 47 usually arriving together (assuming that the 15 has not broken down!)

I hate to think what the service will be like once the snow arrives!

I'd guess the problem on Thursday would have been due to the switch on of the festive lights in the City Centre, the report I heard was that the mound was closed and that traffic was busier on all other roads. Probably the issue of not getting to / from Princes St from the Bridges would be the folk who drive across the junction without even thinking about the idea that they cannot clear the junction on the other side! oh and probably cars parked outside the Balmoral.....

Seems like this has just turned into a bash Lothian buses board... With the number of buses to / from Penicuik it is not suprising that they end up bunched together, just takes one small delay and the timetables goes all to pot. That said it is annoying, a couple of weeks ago I just missed a 47 at North Bridge only to be told that the next bus was 25 mins away and that 2 would be at the stop within 5 min's... If it's like that at 9pm... Timetables are not perfect but I guess the problem is that they are all 'mean't' to be equally spaced between Crewe Toll & Straiton, after which they are then going to different due to the split of buses going direct to Bilston or via Loanhead and the same in reverse, odd departure times so that on the Edinburgh section of the journey they are equally spaced out...

Found information on the bus forum that says we can expect more changes from 3rd April including to the 15 and 47 services. Hopefully we will get more 47 services then or in the autumn as more people will want to travel via Straiton once Asda opens

http://www.busandcoachforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=7322&sid=709596dfd1a5cac72081445651fb28b3&start=20

Apparently one of the changes is for more 37 / 47 journies to run through the Bush.

It seems like many 47 services will run via the Bush from April 3rd presumably to serve the Vet School as it has now moved there. Found this provisional info on the Edinburgh University site:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/transport/travelling-here/easter-bush/how-will-you-travel/bus-travel

Not sure how it will affect journey times though!

The good thing is that it will only affect the buses coming from the city in the morning and going to the city at night. Hopefully they can adjust the times so that those heading in the other direction will not be affected.

Changes are now appearing on the Lothian website. Looks like the 37 & X47 have some timing changes and the 47 will no longer serve Penicuik on Sundays, running Frederick Street to Straiton Park & Ride only, as for the 15 it would appear that 1 journey is being converted to a 15A and theres a couple of extra part route journeys between the City Centre and the Bush. An odd one though is that 1 journey on the 67 will extend to Penicuik at night.
On another note, tonights journey home on the 141 from Dalkeith was interesting in that instead of the normal type of bus it was a coach that turned up, a comfortable & quiet (less engine noise) run home though with it's 5 steps up to get on if anyone with buggies or mobility issues had wanted on it could have been interesting, to cap it all though is that the fleet name was 'First Coaches' and the advert on the back was 'to hire this coach, call Swansea 01.....'..

Strange to stop the 47s coming to Penicuik on Sundays! Sending them to the Park and Ride seems a bit pointless as hardly anyone uses it at weekends and most people would want to go to Ikea from Edinburgh. No doubt they will change things once Asda opens.

I notice no mention of bus fares yet

I suppose the 47 might be reasonably well used between the City Centre and Burdiehouse so they'll use Straiton as a convenient place to turn a bus and do their bit for the park and ride.

This evening I went for my bus outside Marks and Spencers as usual. The bus tracker said that the X47 would only be 5 minutes. Eventually it changed to say that it was due and a guy that I often see at the bus stop said he saw it coming. The next thing it changed again to say that it would be due in 19 minutes This puzzled me until a bus pulled out from the bus stop 20 feet further along and the X47 came behind it It was going to go past us but the guy in front of me managed to wave it down. When we boarded the driver just said "We were told to stop at that stop" and repeated it two or three times. It seems as if they have they started to change the bus stops without telling the passengers

Not just the timetables that are changing for Penicuik, just take a look at the Lothian website for more....

Looks like we are getting refurbished buses rather than new ones (though much better than you would get from F**** Bus) since they are only 5 years old (2006 56 vintage). They should be easy to spot anyway!
I notice they are not mentioning any "improvements" to the fares just yet - no doubt waiting until the last minute to tell us about the "revised fares"

http://lothianbuses.com/news/2-general-news/565-new-look-3747-buses-are-receiving-a-well-deserved-make-over.html

Saw the Pen-Y-Cog bus today coming out of Penicuik as I was heading in - you certainly won't miss seeing it!

Bus fare "revisions" are not as bad as expected, up to £1.30 for a single and £3.20 for a dayticket. Don't know what will happen if the oil price keeps going up though!

Full info here:
http://www.lothianbuses.com/news/2-general-news/577-adult-fare-changes.html

and the story in the Evening News too:

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Passengers-to-pay-the-price.6738319.jp

I guess it was inevitable with the constant rises in the price of fuel However, as I have yearly bus pass that does not expire until December, I will be fine until then. If the kids need bus fares though, no doubt I will need to pay for that.

Firstbus fares up from 3rd April as well to match the Lothian £1.20, they are also reducing the child fare to 70p whilst day tickets will rise to £3.20.

oh no!!!!! As if the buses did not get held up / delayed / diverted enough already!!!!!




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13363775

Why do they need to do this since the tram (s) are not going to reach Princes Street anyway?

Some more changes coming in next month though don't really affect our services. I wonder when they will revise the 47 service to take account of Asda opening - not very good having only a half hourly service past it and no buses on a Sunday!

http://www.lothianbuses.com/news/2-general-news/779-service-changes-from-sunday-11-september-2011.html

The dreaded bus diversions from Princes Street come in on 17th September so check this page to get some idea of where they are going for the next 10 (approx) months!!!

http://www.lothianbuses.com/news/2-general-news/789-princes-street-diversions-from-17-september-2011.html

I'm happy to be proved wrong, the 67 is a useful catch out of town from its start at St Andrew Square to the park & ride.
Where's Septic Sam got to? Enjoyed his attitude.

Some minor changes on services 15 and 47 so no sign of IMPROVEMENTS to prevent all the buses arriving / departing at once as seems to happen all the time at the moment. I see from the SNP leaflet that they have contacted LRT about problems - no wonder nothing has happened!

http://www.lothianbuses.com/news/2-general-news/873-service-changes-from-monday-7-november-2011.html

With the shear number of roadworks that are currently underway along the length of the 37 / 47 routes it a wonder they can keep to any sort of timetable. The City Centre diversions, the roadworks between Salisbury Place & Cameron Toll, the roadworks between the new Asda & Nobles (though they will likely be short lived)...

musicman wrote:

With the shear number of roadworks that are currently underway along the length of the 37 / 47 routes it a wonder they can keep to any sort of timetable. The City Centre diversions, the roadworks between Salisbury Place & Cameron Toll, the roadworks between the new Asda & Nobles (though they will likely be short lived)...

It seems like there is a conspiracy with the number of roadworks happening at the moment plus the traffic light overdose around Straiton which means that the 37 service is often quicker than the 47 nowadays. I used to always wait for the 47 going in to Edinburgh but now just get the first bus that comes (whenever that may be!) since the delays in Loanhead are now less than those in Straiton and the Park and Ride site