Service 29 at the double!

Customer demand drives bus service upgrades

Increased frequencies in the evening and at weekends plus extra capacity are just some of the changes being introduced by Lothian Buses at the end of March. Local service improvements include the 29 becoming a double decker and there will be increased frequencies for 23 and 27 on Saturdays – you’ll get one every twelve minutes. 

Services have been reviewed in response to customer feedback and passenger demand, resulting in a range of improvements that aim to maintain high satisfaction rates.

Sarah Boyd, Head of Operations, said: “Our changes reflect our continued commitment to our customers at a time when more and more people are relying on public transport to travel around our city. Our research has shown that the vast majority of our passengers will benefit from these changes and will see an improved service as a result. We will continue to monitor all our services to ensure we are providing the best possible transport network for the people of Edinburgh.”

• Service 5 will see its frequency increased with buses now running every 10 minutes Monday to Friday during the daytime.

• Service 7 will run 24/7, with increased frequency during the day Monday to Friday and in the evening Monday to Saturday. New service N7 will be introduced running hourly each night.

• Sunday services doubled in frequency with services 8 and 21 to run every 15 minutes daytime and service 47 to run every 30 minutes daytime.

• Services 11 and 16 will have Sunday frequencies increased to every 12 minutes daytime and every 15 minutes in the evening. Additionally service N11 is extended to Ocean Terminal, meaning both services now run 24/7 on their full routes.

• Service 15 will have a revised route and timetable to create a quicker and more direct service from Penicuik.

• Services 23 & 27 will have Saturday daytime frequencies increased to every 12 minutes.

• Service 29 is converted to double-deck to provide more capacity. All Monday to Friday peak journeys will operate to Gorebridge with Mayfield no longer being served.

• Service 37 will see alterations in Midlothian. On Monday to Friday alternate daytime journeys will terminate at Easter Bush and will not serve Penicuik. Journeys which continue to Penicuik Deanburn will additionally serve Roslin. Roslin will now have a significantly enhanced bus service with service 37 and N37 providing a full 24/7 service. On Saturdays and Sunday service 37 will continue to run every 20 minutes during the day, with all buses running to Penicuik Deanburn via Roslin.

• Service 40 has been altered to serve Auchendinny ensuring local links to Penicuik and Loanhead are retained following the withdrawal of service 15 from the village.

• Service 41 will be increased at busy times to provide an alternative to service 43, which is withdrawn due to insufficient passenger numbers. Service 43 operated between Barnton and Waterloo Place, which is also covered by the service 41.

• Following customer feedback service 63 will be re-routed to serve Hermiston Gait Retail Park instead of South Gyle Crescent. The Monday to Friday frequency is increased to every 40 minutes with later journeys introduced. On Saturday and Sunday earlier and later journeys will be introduced.

• Following requests from passengers service 104 will now serve The Jewel instead of Brunstane.

• Service 113 is increased in frequency Monday to Saturday with buses now running every 30 minutes during the day. This will provide more capacity along the route and provide more direct journeys for Tranent following the withdrawal of service 44 from the town.

Nightbus services are also improving, notably:

• Service N3 – better links to Eskbank through the night on all days of the week.
• Service N7 – new route introduced from the Royal Infirmary to Ocean Terminal via Newhaven. This will run hourly each night, following the daytime route of Service 7.
• Service N11 – route extended from Leith Street to Ocean Terminal serving Pilrig, Bonnington Toll and Newhaven.
• Service N37 – serving Roslin on all days of the week, providing the village with a full 24/7 service.

Lothian Buses will have street teams promoting the service improvements starting on Saturday 14 March at Penicuik Centre between 9am and 2pm. Following this event staff will be travelling on buses in the Midlothian and Tranent areas in the two weeks leading up to the change to assist passengers with any questions.

The company reported last May that it had its best year ever in 2013 with a net profit of £8.5m, an increase of 7.8% on the previous year. It also announced it would pay a dividend of nearly £3.3m to local authority shareholders.

In December Lothian Buses announced bus passengers were up from 115.4 million to 118.4 million in 2014.

Last year the company also invested £15m in 65 new low emission and ultra-low emission buses that will significantly impact on improving the city’s air quality and lower carbon emissions.

Full details of the schedule changes are available at www.lothianbuses.com.