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Post by driver6540 on Mar 15, 2019 22:39:13 GMT 1
The Edinburgh evening news reports that there may be a recurrence of the "bus wars" between First and Lothian buses about to start again. In retaliation to Lothians Country bus division expanding routes deep into the First heartland of West Lothian, First have declared they will increase services in direct competition on these routes, investing in new vehicles and starting routes in the capitol itself. Given that Lothian buses seem to have the midas touch in growing passenger numbers and turning loss making routes into highly profitable ones, am i alone in thinking this is one last desperate throw of the dice from First?. I don't honestly think they have a chance against the might of "ratepayer owned" Lothian buses. Looking into the crystal ball, Is it possible that the First Scotland East division may be sold off (No prizes for guessing who to!), leaving them to concentrate solely on the Glasgow and Aberdeen operations.
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Post by gooderson1 on Mar 16, 2019 14:24:01 GMT 1
I find it amazing that First are going up against Lothian. First threw in the towel sometime ago to the south and east of Edinburgh including a service through to Carlisle. Border Buses took on some routes and the cross border service. Lothian(trading as East Coast Buses) filled in "holes" in Berwickshire. Given that they are selling off parts of the empire because the operations are loss making I fail to understand how they can turn in a profit competing against Lothian with new vehicles.
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Post by Burnside on Mar 18, 2019 14:34:28 GMT 1
This the same First that are supposedly selling off the bits of the business that aren't profitable?
Can't see a war with Lothian (frequently one of the UK's top companies) ending well for the boys from Barbie.
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Post by driver6540 on Mar 20, 2019 23:43:08 GMT 1
Lothian Buses have ordered a further 38 B8L/ADL 400XLB's for delivery later this year, taking the total number of this type to 80. It's been reported that some of this second batch will be for the Airlink 100 service to replace the "old" 17 plate B5TL/Gemini 3's incumbent on this route. Not officially confirmed but, reports suggest that Lothian have cancelled the original order with Wrights to supply 300 buses on Volvo chassis for their 2016-2020 "Fleet of the future" replacement programme and opted for ADL to supply the remaining buses to be delivered.
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Post by driver6540 on Mar 26, 2019 0:29:48 GMT 1
Further to the above, Lothian have confirmed the next batch of Volvo B5TL to arrive will be ALD E400MMC, bodied to Lothian's standard 11.4m spec. Not yet confirmed is whether they'll be single or dual-doored though. It remains to be seen who the single deckers still to be delivered in this order will be bodied by. Up till now I believe ALD haven't put the E200MMC body on the B8RLE chassis, so they may stick with Wright's for the saloons. Also no word on the B5LH Hybrids and all-electric deckers in this order, as initially it was presumed Wright's were supplying the 300+ buses ordered. Obviously thats now not the case!
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Post by driver6540 on Apr 2, 2019 22:32:18 GMT 1
A bit of fleet news for those interested. Lothian Country are introducing 8 new Volvo B8R/Plaxton Panther Interurban coaches into service this week. Whilst on a 2 axle chassis, these have been bodied to Lothian's bespoke spec and feature dual-doors. They are liveried in a non-standard green/white and carry "Green Arrow Express" branding. No mention yet what routes they've been bought for, but no doubt probably for a quality express service designed to further weaken First's presence in West Lothian. Theres an article on them in the latest C&BN.
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Post by gooderson1 on Apr 3, 2019 15:52:12 GMT 1
Not in a position to cut and paste the article from C&BN but after looking at their website the livery is reminiscent of a previous operator known as Eastern Scottish
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Post by driver6540 on Apr 12, 2019 19:04:08 GMT 1
The 10 recently acquired B9TL's from Go-Ahead London have been joined by a further 3, all are being prepared for service and are retaining their dual-door layout. Following a change of plan these will now join the City fleet and not the East Coast and Country divisions as originally intended. From reports on Scottish forums it now appears all deckers due to enter the City fleet will be dual-doored as standard. Only deckers due for East Coast Buses and Lothian Country will be specced with single door entry. Whilst more new ALD XLB's and E400MMC's are to be delivered this year it has also been reported further secondhand purchases of London B9TL's are planned.
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Post by driver6540 on Apr 12, 2019 19:11:02 GMT 1
Not in a position to cut and paste the article from C&BN but after looking at their website the livery is reminiscent of a previous operator known as Eastern Scottish Yes that's what i thought, I also thought the "Green Arrows" name reminiscent as well, but cant quite think where from. London perhaps?
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Apr 22, 2019 17:17:50 GMT 1
The 10 recently acquired B9TL's from Go-Ahead London have been joined by a further 3, all are being prepared for service and are retaining their dual-door layout. Following a change of plan these will now join the City fleet and not the East Coast and Country divisions as originally intended. From reports on Scottish forums it now appears all deckers due to enter the City fleet will be dual-doored as standard. Only deckers due for East Coast Buses and Lothian Country will be specced with single door entry. Whilst more new ALD XLB's and E400MMC's are to be delivered this year it has also been reported further secondhand purchases of London B9TL's are planned. I think some of these acquired Volvo B9TLs could convert routes 2 & 49. These have been double-deck until a few years ago and would enable the 04-reg Eclipses to be withdrawn. These are older than any Volvo B7TLs with Lothian Buses so more urgently need replacing.
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Post by driver6540 on Apr 23, 2019 21:54:16 GMT 1
Yes, it's been mentioned elsewhere about the 49 being ideally suited to these "shorter" B9's. During non-peak loadings the standard Lothian 11.4m deckers have been deemed to be "overkill" given the number of passengers using this route, however the usual B7RLE's can get packed, hence the short B9's being an ideal compromise. Strangely enough the oldest 04/55 reg Eclipses will remain in service longer than the B7TL's, as they have been retrofitted with exhaust systems and other mod's to bring them up to EU5 standards. All the B7TL's with Lothian and it's subsiduary fleets will be withdrawn by the end of next year. Since the introduction of the XLB's over 50 have been withdrawn already.
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Post by gooderson1 on May 22, 2019 9:52:55 GMT 1
The Firstbus East Scotland website announced yesterday that they will be announcing in June(why bother to announce now that they will be announcing in June!) that they(First) will be launching a new venture in the "Lothian" area. Rumour on a Facebook site is that it will be a sightseeing unit. Lothian buses must be "slightly" worried(lol)!
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Post by Jagga on May 27, 2019 14:56:59 GMT 1
First will be entering the Edinburgh Bus Tours Market. It won't be a "bus war" as seen back in 2001. More of a interesting hit into a market. Here's the fleetlist:
First West Lothian Open Top Fleet info with thanks to Jordan Adam for putting it together:
Dennis Trident Plaxton President 32726 / V526 ESC 32727 / V527 ESC 32728 / V528 ESC 32729 / V529 ESC
Dennis Trident ALX400 32789 / ACZ 7489 32790 / TSU640 32792 / ACZ 7492 32793 / ACZ 7493 32794 / ACZ 7494
ADL Enviro 400 33500 / LK55 KKT
DAF DB250 Plaxton President 35010 / T210 XBV 35011 / T211 XBV 35012 / T212 XBV 35013 / T213 XBV
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Post by chas on May 27, 2019 17:53:42 GMT 1
First will be entering the Edinburgh Bus Tours Market. It won't be a "bus war" as seen back in 2001. More of a interesting hit into a market. Here's the fleetlist: First West Lothian Open Top Fleet info with thanks to Jordan Adam for putting it together: Dennis Trident Plaxton President 32726 / V526 ESC 32727 / V527 ESC 32728 / V528 ESC 32729 / V529 ESC Dennis Trident ALX400 32789 / ACZ 7489 32790 / TSU640 32792 / ACZ 7492 32793 / ACZ 7493 32794 / ACZ 7494 ADL Enviro 400 33500 / LK55 KKT DAF DB250 Plaxton President 35010 / T210 XBV 35011 / T211 XBV 35012 / T212 XBV 35013 / T213 XBV Sneaky that, using their old buses against them?
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Post by Burnside on May 28, 2019 13:09:40 GMT 1
Odd decision to try get a slice of the tour market using near 20 year old buses against Lothian's fleet of Streetdecks.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2019 16:29:20 GMT 1
Cheapskate operation! Low start up cost so they won't lose too much when it fails
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2019 2:00:46 GMT 1
Cheapskate operation! Low start up cost so they won't lose too much when it fails Not really it is a prudent move using vehicles which have either a nil charge on the balance sheet or are completely written down as this will give the service a head start in moving it i to profitability
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Post by chas on May 29, 2019 7:19:14 GMT 1
Cheapskate operation! Low start up cost so they won't lose too much when it fails Not really it is a prudent move using vehicles which have either a nil charge on the balance sheet or are completely written down as this will give the service a head start in moving it i to profitability Maybe you're right - out in Madeira where two operators run open top services, one uses vehicles now 28 years old. That doesn't seem to deter passengers. After a repaint (?) First's vehicles could look like new, except from the exhaust pipe.
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Post by chas on Jun 7, 2019 7:43:01 GMT 1
Lothian's new batch of B8L/XLBs have started to appear in bustimes.org this week, with 1105-12 seen so far. 1093 has yet to appear. Coaches, Open Toppers and the ex Bullocks vehicles do not appear either.
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Jun 7, 2019 8:21:01 GMT 1
Not really it is a prudent move using vehicles which have either a nil charge on the balance sheet or are completely written down as this will give the service a head start in moving it i to profitability Maybe you're right - out in Madeira where two operators run open top services, one uses vehicles now 28 years old. That doesn't seem to deter passengers. After a repaint (?) First's vehicles could look like new, except from the exhaust pipe. Additionally I understand the ALX400s were refurbished and retrofitted to a better emissions standard by Stagecoach when they ran in Cambridge & the DAFs would have been done as well previously as they have come off the Original London Sightseeing Tour where they would probably have been Euro 5 by the end.
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Post by driver6540 on Jul 20, 2019 23:08:56 GMT 1
The First open-toppers "competing" with Lothian Buses in Edinburgh are operating under the Bright Bus banner and the duplicating routes ticket prices are being sold at 40% less than Lothian's tour's. It's probably unlikely First will make any real money from this venture, as it's basically just a half-arsed revenge ploy because Lothian now operate deep into First's West Lothian territory and do so successfully. I've seen reported that First are renting garage space in the North Edinburgh/Leith area to house the Bright bus open-top fleet.
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Post by gooderson1 on Jul 21, 2019 8:00:54 GMT 1
The First open-toppers "competing" with Lothian Buses in Edinburgh are operating under the Bright Bus banner and the duplicating routes ticket prices are being sold at 40% less than Lothian's tour's. It's probably unlikely First will make any real money from this venture, as it's basically just a half-arsed revenge ploy because Lothian now operate deep into First's West Lothian territory and do so successfully. I've seen reported that First are renting garage space in the North Edinburgh/Leith area to house the Bright bus open-top fleet. August edition of Buses (page12) reveals that the operation(30 staff and vehicles) runs from 0900 until 1700 and is based at the First depot in Livingston.
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Post by chas on Aug 14, 2019 20:47:32 GMT 1
All Lothian's B8L/XLBs 1063-1140 are now in service, along with the ex-London Wright Gemini Eclipse 2's 1000 & 1141-53. That includes the new Airlink vehicles. One of the old Airlink vehicles was on the Skylink 400 today.
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Post by driver6540 on Oct 11, 2020 21:53:39 GMT 1
Lothian are just starting to take delivery of a batch of 30 new single deckers. These are Volvo B8RLE's and have MCV Evora bodies, a first for Lothian. They are 13.2m long and are planned to operate on the routes the current Volvo 7900H's operate, thus displacing these on to other less capacity dependant routes. It's a case of 30 in and 30 out as the new buses will be direct replacements for 30 B7RLE Eclipses (The entire batch of 04/55 examples, most now withdrawn and some sold off anyway). Due to the current "situation" and the implementation of a much reduced Covid timetable it will probably be some time off before the new buses enter service.
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Post by sharksmith on Aug 21, 2021 14:55:33 GMT 1
Not sure of the relevance but Lothian Buses 1064, a Volvo B8L/ADL Enviro 400XLB, is travelling down from Edinburgh for the Olive Grove bus depot open day tomorrow. I'm not generally keen on the ride quality of ADL buses but these tri-axle vehicles are certainly impressive looking buses and have the advantage of being built on a Volvo Chassis. Might be worth a trip down the M1 to Sheffield tomorrow if you've not seen one before.
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