Lothian to make changes to bus services later this month

Lothian has announced many changes to its network which they say are necessary to improve reliability and connectivity for customers in Edinburgh and the Lothians, and which will come into effect at the end of the month.

Taking effect from 28 May, new or altered services will be introduced to improve reliability and connectivity, replacing existing services on some parts of the network.

The bus company is introducing frequent direct links between Musselburgh and the Royal Infirmary and will improve capacity on journeys between Portobello and the Western General Hospital. 

Sarah Boyd, Managing Director for Lothian said: “Lothian is committed to providing a safe, reliable and value for money public transport service for all of our customers. 

“In response to the growing city region, changes in travel patterns and to fully integrate with the imminent opening of Trams to Newhaven, our network has been fully reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the evolving needs of our customers and the communities we serve.

“Customers can find full information on our website, social media channels, speak with a member of our team in our TravelHubs or via 0131 555 6363.”

Full details of the service change can be found below and timetable information can be found on Lothian’s website.

Here are all the changes:

Lothian City and Airport Services

Service 1
Revised timetable. Monday-Friday daytime frequency increased to every 15 minutes.

Service 2
Revised route. Buses will now terminate at Hermiston Gait. Due to increased journey times, buses will no longer serve the section between Gyle Centre and Hermiston Gait.

Service 4
Revised route and timetable. Extended from The Jewel to Queen Margaret University via the A1. Buses will no longer serve ASDA car park. Bingham Roundabout will no longer be served by Service 4 with buses operating direct between Duddingston Row and Bingham Avenue.

*New* Service 9
New service introduced between Muirhouse and King’s Buildings. From Muirhouse, Service 9 will follow Service 8 to Surgeon’s Hall and then operate via Nicholson Square and Causewayside to King’s Buildings.

Service 10
Revised route and timetable. From North Junction Street, Service 10 will continue along Ocean Drive and terminate at Ocean Terminal.

Service 11
Revised route and timetable. From Lindsay Road, Service 11 will operate via Sandpiper Road, Newhaven Drive and terminate at Western Harbour.

Service 12
Revised route and timetable. Service 12 will operate via South Gyle Crescent instead of South Gyle Broadway. Late evening journeys will terminate at Broomhall.

Service 19
Revised route and timetable. Service 19 will be extended from King’s Road to Eastfield to improve connectivity between Portobello and the city centre and provide a direct route between Portobello and the Western General.

Service 21
Revised timetable. Minor timetable changes to Monday-Friday and Saturday timetables to improve reliability. Sunday daytime frequency will change to every 30 minutes with buses no longer serving the Gyle Centre and al journeys operating between Clovenstone and the Royal Infirmary.

Service 22
Revised route and timetable. Service 22 will be extended from the West End to Granton Harbour. From Lothian Road, it will operate via Queensferry Street, Western General at Crewe Road South, Crewe Toll and Waterfront Avenue. In the South Gyle area, Service 22 will operate via South Gyle Broadway.

Service 25
Revised timetable. Monday-Friday daytime frequency reduced to every 12 minutes. Some extra peak time journeys are withdrawn and will be reintroduced when the Universities return in September.

Service 30
Revised route and timetable. Service 30 will operate between Clovenstone and Queen Margaret University.

Service 31
Revised timetable to improve reliability. The Sunday daytime frequency will be increased to every 20 minutes with buses serving both Hopefield and Polton Mill in Midlothian.

Service 34

Revised route.  Route via Salamander Place and Baltic Street will become permanent route.

Service 41
Service 41 will be withdrawn and replaced by Service 9 and altered 47/47B.

Service 45
Revised route and timetable. Service 45 will operate between Heriot-Watt University and King’s Road. Some morning and afternoon peak time journeys will continue to serve Portobello and Eastfield. The section between Eastfield and Queen Margaret University will no longer be served.

*New* Service 46
New service introduced between Musselburgh and Rosewell via Stoneybank, Fort Kinnaird, Royal Infirmary, Dalkeith and Bonnyrigg. Service 46 will operate every 30 minutes Monday-Friday and Saturday. On Sundays, frequency will be every 60 minutes. 

Service 47/47B
Revised route and timetable. Services 47/47B will now operate between Cammo and Penicuik Ladywood. From Cammo, buses will operate via Cramond, Davidson Mains, Blackhall and Craigleith to the West End and continue to Penicuik Ladywood as per current route.

Service 48
Revised route and timetable. Service 48 will be extended from Fort Kinnaird to Musselburgh Grammar School via Newcraighall and Stoneybank.

Service 49
Revised route. Buses will now terminate at the Royal Infirmary and no longer serves Rosewell (see Service 46).  Route from Fort Kinnaird to Royal Infirmary is unchanged.

Service 100
Revised timetable. Increased frequency between 0100 hrs and 0400 hrs to every 20 minutes. Between 0400 hrs and 0500 hrs, departures every 8 minutes to improve capacity towards Edinburgh Airport.

Service 400
Minor timetable changes on Monday-Friday and Saturday to improve reliability. On Sundays, daytime frequency will be reduced to every 40 minutes.

EastCoastbuses

Service X5
Revised timetable. On Monday-Friday the second journey from North Berwick will depart earlier to arrive in city centre for 0830hrs

Service X6
Revised timetable. Poorly used journeys to/from Amisfield Park will no longer be provided. On Sundays, daytime frequency will be reduced to hourly.

Service X7
Revised timetable to improve reliability. On Monday-Friday there will be an additional journey introduced in the morning peak from Dunbar to Haddington, and an extra journey to Dunbar in the afternoon peak. On Sunday, daytime frequency will be increased to every 30 minutes. 

Service 106
Revised route and timetable. Service 106 will no longer terminate at Fort Kinnaird and instead terminate at Queen Margaret University instead, operating from Newhailes Road via Clayknowes Road. This will provide a direct link between East Lothian and Queen Margaret University.

Service 113
Minor timetable changes.

Service 124
Minor timetable changes

Service 140/141
Minor timetable changes with the last journey from Penicuik at 0012 being withdrawn due to low passenger numbers.

Lothian Country

Service 43
Revised timetable.  On Monday-Friday there will be an additional journey introduced in the morning peak from Queensferry to city centre and an extra return journey to Queensferry on the afternoon peak to support growth.

Service X18
Revised timetable to improve reliability.

Service X27
Minor timetable changes. A later journey from Edinburgh to Deans will be introduced at 2348.

Service X28
Minor timetable changes.

Night Services

NightBus N3
Revised timetable. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the frequency will be increased to every 30 minutes.

NightBus N11
Revised route and timetable. N11 will terminate at Hyvots Bank and will no longer serve the section between Hyvots Bank and the Royal Infirmary. In the city centre, buses will continue as N16 to Silverknowes via Leith.

NightBus N14
Revised route and timetable. N14 will only operate between Muirhouse (Waterfront Gait) and Surgeons’ Hall, no longer operating between Surgeons’ Hall and the Royal Infirmary.

NightBus N16
Revised timetable. Increased frequency between Silverknowes and city centre to every 30 minutes.

NightBus N22
Revised route and timetable. N22 will no longer operate to Leith and Western Harbour. Buses will instead terminate at Princes Street. Buses will then continue as N30 to Musselburgh via Niddrie and Queen Margaret University.

NightBus N26
Minor timetable changes.

NightBus N30
Revised timetable. The frequency between the city centre and Musselburgh will be increased to every 30 minutes on all nights. Some journeys will now continue as N22 to South Gyle.

*New* Lothian Country NightBus N18
New night service introduced between Edinburgh and Whitburn via Broxburn, Uphall, Bathgate and Armadale following the daytime X18 route. One Journey will depart from Leith Street at 0050 every night. Additional journeys will operate on weekends.

Lothian Country NightBus N28
Revised timetable. The 0025 journey from Edinburgh will start five minutes later and the weekend 0330 journey from Edinburgh will start at 0340. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, a new journey will be introduced from Bathgate at 0102 to Livingston Centre.

EastCoast Buses NightHawk N106
Service withdrawn, replaced by N107

EastCoast Buses NightHawk N107
New service replacing N106. Revised route to operate via Brunstane with Fort Kinnaird no longer served due to low customer numbers (see NightBus N30 for extra journeys to Fort Kinnaird). The 0021 journey from Edinburgh to Haddington will operate each night, extending to Dunbar on weekends.

EastCoast Buses NightHawk N113
Revised route and timetable. This service will now only operate on Saturday and Sunday mornings. A revised route will be implemented in Musselburgh with buses operating via Linkfield Road and Haddington Road.

Lothian bus Service 37 PHOTO ©2023 The Edinburgh Reporter