This paper has been produced as a response to the substantial changes to East Lothian bus services in April 2025. At that time there was much ill-informed and incorrect commentary from a number of passengers and others on a variety of matters which featured in the local press and some hateful posts on Facebook.
RELBUS was not involved in re-shaping the East Lothian network, but is generally supportive of the revised network now in place. However, there are some aspects that, in our opinion, should be looked at again with a view to improving the current services in order to make them more attractive to the travelling public. The object of this paper is to highlight these to East Lothian Council and the operators.
120 Dunbar to North Berwick
The improvement of this service to roughly hourly is welcomed. There are two aspects that require looking at.
Bus/rail connectivity at North Berwick station
For years there has been constant criticism that buses and trains do not connect at North Berwick. North Berwick is the only station in East Lothian where bus/rail connectivity can be provided within the restraints of The Equality Act, all new bus/rail connections having to comply.
The new 120 timetable actually DOES provide an Equality Act compliant connection (albeit in one direction only) where trains arrive at roughly 0014/15 minutes past the hour and the 120 bus leaves the station at around 0025 minutes past the hour permitting disabled passengers to make the connection. Yet, there has been no publicity regarding this at all. On busy spring, summer and autumn days, trains arriving into North Berwick can disgorge up to 150, or more, passengers per train, who walk to the town centre and many also onto the Seabird Centre, a very popular tourist destination. A simple large ‘double royal’ (standard ScotRail size) size poster on the station platform at the exit towards the car park saying ‘Bus connection to town centre and Seabird Centre leaves hourly from 0925 to 1825 on service 120’ would be highly productive at little cost.
There has always been a historical arrangement where The Seabird Centre would allow discounted entry to their Discovery Centre if a valid train ticket could be produced, but was rarely used due to the 15/20-minute walk from the railway station. Likewise, the town centre is a 10-minute walk from the station. The potential additional bus traffic on certain days is substantial. Surely an arrangement between ScotRail, The Seabird Centre and East Coast Buses can be arrived at to promote this and also to include the bus/rail connection in both East Coast Buses 120 timetable and ScotRail’s rail timetable?
Bus passengers using North Berwick town centre, say from East Linton, Tyninghame and Whitekirk, or Dunbar, may think that to board the returning 120 bus they have to walk from the town centre to the Seabird Centre, the return timetable detailing the Seabird Centre as the terminal point. This a long walk, and the presentation of the timetable is confusing to those passengers who do pick up that the bus to Dunbar actually leaves Church Road, as usual, and then goes to the Seabird Centre where it sits there for 11 minutes, which is not attractive to passengers and suggests operational convenience over passenger requirements. Again, RELBUS wishes to see the timetable for the return to Dunbar quote Church Road as the return starting point in the timetable (no operational change), and ideally for the 11-minute layover to be cut to no more than 2 minutes, with the principal layover taken at the Dunbar end of the service in order to clarify the position for passengers and produce a quicker journey for passengers who will not appreciate sitting for 11 minutes for no apparent reason.
123 Gifford Circle.
Having lived in Pencaitland for the first 20 odd years of my life, and using buses between there and Haddington for work, I know this area very well. RELBUS wishes the following to be considered in a constructive manner.
The use of one-way circles in East Lothian in a number of areas is unfortunate, and not passenger friendly, but the 123 in a classic example which, if you know the area in detail, is not necessary and a much better service can be provided by recognising that a circle is not required at all.
The only houses situated between Gifford and East Saltoun are two, at Eaglescairnie, which in any event are served by the Haddington – Bolton – Gifford route. The level of demand for journeys commencing in Gifford and going to East Saltoun, West Saltoun, Glenkinchie and indeed Pencaitland, will be tiny, if any at all other than odd random instances. It is therefore NOT necessary to cover the Gifford – East Saltoun section of this route at all – I know one morning journey exists clockwise. It is therefore suggested that the route be revised along the following lines withdrawing from direct Gifford – East Saltoun section of route.
Proposed Route
- Gifford
- Haddington
- Pencaitland (Centre)
- Glenkinchie
- West Saltoun
- East Saltoun
- Spilmersford 113 terminus to connect with 113 providing connections to Tranent and Edinburgh
- from Glenkinchie, West and East Saltoun * (see below)
- Pencaitland (East)
- Letham Mains
- Haddington
- Gifford
With the route in reverse to provide connections out of 113 at Spilmersford each running every three hours.
This route can run every 90 minutes as at present, but importantly provides a direct service from Pencaitland to Haddington via the new housing at Letham Mains. With the present arrangement in the anti-clockwise direction, passengers from Pencaitland, and other villages, and importantly Letham Mains, have to travel via Gifford to reach Haddington, which is ridiculous.
A few years ago, I, and others, attended a meeting in East Saltoun village hall following representations from the Community Council, and others, to try to put in place a service from East Saltoun to Tranent. It was attended by Ian Bieniowski (who I know is no longer with Lothian) and around twenty or so locals, but nothing came of it. There is a demand for this connection, although in my suggestion it would only result in three or four connections each way daily. That however is better than nothing and if supported by a small 1/3 A4 sheet timetable specifically showing the connections, and distributed to locals and put up at bus stops (and of course on the internet), publicity could be effective and of very moderate cost. It also provides meaningfully increased journey opportunities for no extra cost. Importantly it would provide Pencaitland, and the other villages, and the new Letham Mains housing with a direct service to Haddington rather than having to trail round by Gifford.
Passengers’ Charter
A groundbreaking passenger’s charter was introduced several years ago which was hailed as a major step forward in raising standards. Whilst that was primarily aimed at First Group who ran many of the services at the time in a most unsatisfactory manner, there is a case for its reintroduction as an example of the high standards that East Lothian’s bus operators provide on a daily basis.
Under Trading Standards law, all bus operators must be able to name an alternative dispute resolution provider. Bus Users UK is the only bus specialised ADR provider in the country and handles virtually all escalated bus complaints from passengers. If a passenger’s charter is reintroduced it will be necessary to ensure that all East Lothian service providers are registered with Bus Users. When the last one was introduced, this was not the case. The way to ensure this is the case is for local authorities, who also operate Trading Standards locally, to stipulate that the named ADR provider is included as part of the letting terms of their subsidised contracts.
Dunbar local services
Whilst it is acknowledged that the withdrawal of bus services to smaller villages near Dunbar has not been popular, RELBUS recognises that with staff shortages, it is essential that wherever possible principal services should receive priority if resources are limited. RELBUS notes that other local authorities – principally Dumfries and Galloway, Highlands, and in May 2025, the Borders, all faced similar issues and the local Councils there utilise their own welfare minibuses (up to PSV standard) and own drivers to provide similar services on a marginal low-cost basis substantially lower than formally contracting out a service and certainly lower than any DRT contracted service. This clearly is possible in East Lothian and indeed the County used to do precisely that with their Gaberlunzie service which ceased some years ago, but which produced a comprehensive network of rural services in the County. RELBUS merely points this out as a potential way forward if considered appropriate.
Blindwells
The developing community of Blindwells will require some serious bus service introductions and alterations in the foreseeable future as it develops. RELBUS is aware that discussions will have been taking place in this regard for some time. It is aware that, wherever possible, introducing new bus service to the centre of Edinburgh will only add to congestion on a corridor that is already well served and hence as much potential demand should be served by local operations as much as possible.
The following is put forward for future consideration.
The existing 140/141 services from Musselburgh Tesco to Penicuik could be extended as follows:
Musselburgh Tesco – Tranent – Blindwells – top Prestonpans – bottom Prestonpans – Musselburgh Tesco and then off to Penicuik as now. This will produce numerous new journey possibilities connecting East Lothian to many parts of Mid Lothian without changing buses, and also serve Blindwells and connect top Prestonpans and bottom Prestonpans, which became a contentious issue on the withdrawal of 26 to Tranent. It would operate in both directions.
About RELBUS
RELBUS is a voluntary organisation chaired by Harry Barker. It has been extant for many years with the purpose of improving East Lothian’s bus service through constructive dialog with both local authorities, community groups and bus operators. It was particularly active when First Group ran most of the County’s buses, but following their withdrawal from the County, East Lothian now has one of the highest quality bus services in the UK and accordingly RELBUS has adopted a lower profile. RELBUS will not become involved in individual complaints, but will advise on how the passenger should proceed. Harry Barker, who once worked for SMT in Edinburgh in their timetable department, has extensive experience in the industry. He has written two books, and was Treasurer of The Omnibus Society founded in 1929 for 25 years, this having the status similar to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He then became Chairman of that organisation and in now a Life President. He is Treasurer, and Trustee, and full Board director of Bus Users (UK), his appointment being confirmed by Transport Scotland about 11 years ago. His career was in banking working in Edinburgh, East Lothian, the Borders, the Highlands, East Yorkshire, Cheshire and London.
HLB June 2025
This paper has been submitted to:
Diana Murray, East Lothian Council
East Coast Buses
Prentice of Haddington
Paul McLennan, MSP who has been involved in some matters, particularly rail issues
Brett Walker, Chair, On the Move Group, North Berwick and Coastal communities.
