Lothian Buses & First Scotland East

[DunsBus]

RE: Lothian Buses & First Scotland East
Up in Edinburgh, Stagecoach have announced a new service between the city centre and South Queensferry, the 40 & 40A, which commences on 3rd March. Both services follow the same route between Edinburgh and the Burnshot flyover, then service 40 runs a loop via Echline, South Queensferry town centre, South Queensferry Tesco, Scotstoun Estate, Dalmeny and back into Edinburgh; service 40A follows this route in the opposite direction. A combined daytime frequency of every 15 minutes is provided, rising to every 10 minutes during peak hours. At nights and on Sundays a combined 30-minute frequency is provided. The buses to be used are nine 59-plate Enviro300s which have been branded for the service and will feature wi-fi while the service will be run by Dunfermline depot, with placing journeys between Dunfermline and either the Forth Bridge south access/exit and Scotstoun Estate run as service 55A.

Further details are available here: http://www.stagecoachbus.com/queensferry.aspx

First's response to this development has been a rather drastic one; in a repeat of what happened in Devon last year, they have announced that they are to withdraw from the route rather than compete head-on. No date has as yet been given for the LDO of First's 43, a long-standing service which dates back to the days of the pre-nationalised SMT and which saw off competition from Lothian on the Edinburgh-South Queensferry corridor in the early 1990s, but I suspect it will probably be around late-April allowing for the statutory notice period. Livingston depot, which currently operates the 43 after spells operated by New Street, Westfield, a joint operation between Westfield and Dalkeith on the short-lived service 88, Livingston and Linlithgow, has been told that it is to lose all of its Geminis when the 43 comes off. I suspect there may be more to this than meets the eye.