New deals signed with four bus operators to fill city gaps
Edinburgh Council has agreed new deals with four bus operators in a bid to improve services and fill gaps in the city’s network.
The new routes will seek to address unreliable provision in Ratho and other under-served communities which lack public transport links to the city centre, which have seen timetables slashed due to driver shortages.
After going out to tender, the council has awarded contracts to Borders Buses, Lothian Motorcoaches, Handicabs Lothian and Salmond’s Coaches, none of which currently operate subsidised services.
McGill’s Buses, which runs the 20, 63 and 68 serving west Edinburgh, and Edinburgh Coach Lines, which operates the 13 between Craigleith and Lochend, were not listed among the new contractors and are set to cut ties with the local authority.
It comes after councillors agreed to review the city’s supported bus services following complaints they were regularly delayed or cancelled, leaving users “stranded”.
Plans to improve the situation were unveiled in
November ahead of contract tendering and included splitting the existing 20 between Ratho and Chesser in two and offering villagers a new link to Hermiston Gait – where they could connect to onward bus and tram travel – as well as a new direct bus from Ratho to the city centre via the A8.
The council’s contract with McGill’s came to an end in September but the company agreed to keep buses running “until the tender process is complete and new contracts are awarded”.
Meanwhile proposals to reroute the 13 along Lothian Road, Lauriston Place from the West End sparked concerns amongst residents.
Councillors, who branded the idea “deeply unfair” and warned it would be “detrimental to our city’s mobility and our residents’ confidence in our public transport”, agreed the existing route along Princes Street, Broughton and Leith Walk should be the one advertised to operators.
Furthermore they included £240,000 in the annual budget to restore a bus service for Dumbiedykes, one of the city’s most deprived communities, four years after Lothian Buses withdrew the 6 which served the area. It is expected this could be in place by the summer.