Britain’s biggest buses to ease Edinburgh congestion squeeze

Lothian has ploughed more than £11 million into a new innovative fleet of the UK’s biggest buses, with the first passengers expected on board in a matter of weeks.

The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 XLB buses will begin operating on the 11 and 16 routes in March.

The 100-seater Alexander Dennis Enviro400 XLB vehicles are to be launched early next month, carrying up to 129 customers each.

Lothian has spent £11.3m on the new fleet of 42 vehicles. The first buses will operate on service 11 between Ocean Terminal and Hyvots Bank and service 16 between Silverknowes and Colinton.

With the new buses providing extra provision of around 30 passengers compared to other models, it is anticipated the vehicles – a first for the UK – will meet the requirements of the Capital.

Each bus will be fitted with high-backed seating, wifi, USB charging and mood lighting.

In 2018, these popular cross-city routes recorded a combined total of more than ten million customer journeys.

At first glance the vehicles look huge in comparison to their older counterparts. However, the buses are only 4.5ft longer than the other double deckers and just 2ft longer than a typical single decker, allaying fears of how they will get around some of the city’s tightest bends.

Lothian has developed an in-house project team led by David McCallum, general manager at the Longstone Garage, pictured right, to carry out a series of route assessments every day, including testing each bus stop in the Capital ahead of the launch.

He said: “We have taken the buses on some really tight corners and initially you think it will never go round there, but it will. We’re training up to 650 drivers at the firm’s Longstone Garage ahead of the launch.

Lothian employees David McCallum, Liam Paton, Robert Donald and Sam Flynn have been testing the buses on the streets of Edinburgh.

“There is a demand for this size vehicle, which we have based on customer complaints such as being left at bus stops because there’s no space at that time of the day.”

The buses are expected to improve customer satisfaction fitted with comfortable high-backed seating, wifi, USB charging, mood lighting and audio-visual stop announcements.

Lothian confirmed the new buses would initially not have the capacity for contactless payment, but said it was expected to be rolled out across all vehicles later this year.

The Enviro400 XLBs have been designed with a front and middle door for passengers to disembark to speed up services and ease congestion.

Inside Lothian's new double decker vehicles.

Sam Flynn, 26, of the Marine Garage and Lothian employee of the year, said: “I think the public will like the extra seating capacity as well as the middle door, which will ultimately speed up services.

“They’re nice to drive and it’s a very smooth journey.”

The buses are part of the firm’s pledge to use greener vehicles to reduce its carbon footprint and help meet Scottish Government targets.

Lothian’s managing director Richard Hall said: “The city is changing and public transport operations must evolve to meet the growing needs and expectations of our customers. By deploying these new vehicles onto these services to cope with customer demand patterns, we will be able to change how we deliver services for the benefit of our customers and the areas in which we operate.”