Ember are steadily increasing routes
Started Inverness-Thurso in August, with their usual maximising use of electric coaches, which are best operated 24hr schedules
Ember has a display on driver binnacle which shows ETA at next requested stop with a manifest (showing PU/SD pax) This data is updated in real time and you MUST book for all intermediate request stops. The added benefit is that the driver has a head-count & knows your name as well - A huge benefit for VI or any passenger requiring assistance, and also ensures that the hold side doors are opened for loading your bike (on newer coaches)
Perhaps a few notes on growing fleet - latest coaches are now tri-axle & 14/ or 15 metre, plus 3.7m high-floor This means that the monocoque/integral body has clear space full width (approx 2.4 m) but the central gangway & central well toilet intrude into this space. However the outer area of hold has soffit at approx 1 metre high, so bikes placed lengthwise in hold could stand upright if bungeed to framing
The law is very clear Coaches are limited to 100Kmh (62.5mph) ALL passengers MUST be seated (& seat belts worn) - a better deal than trains? You'll see statutory lettering by front door of coach inside - the original 2-axle 12 metre coaches were plated for 38-42 seats with 2 wheelchairs IIRC, the new ones I think at 65 seats. Nominally take 2 bikes, but in S Wales the express coaches Swansea-Cardiff-Bristol were providing a handy alternative to trains, with a supportive MD, He got 35 bikes in the hold of a 49-seat coach for a cycling club charter! I want to try for a Guinness Record attempt!
We now have Glasgow-Dundee via M9, Edinburgh-Dundee via M90, with some services extending to Aberdeen, over 2 routes via Montrose & via Braemar
Aberdeen to Inverness along A96
Edinburgh to Fort Bill making a welcome return of a faster coach service via Callander after Citylink dropped the seasonal route years ago (but have now restored this ... hmm?)
Glasgow Fort Bill goes via Glasgow Airport then A82
Hints are to expect a Glasgow/Edinburgh-Inverness via A9 soon & possibly some competition on the crowded M8 corridor which already has 2 Flixbus coaches/hr 4 Citylink 900/hr 3 Citylink AIR/hr to EDI (then cycle or tram for 9 miles - a fit cyclist will easily beat tram!) plus 902 via Livingston/Coatbridge etc Between 23.00 and 05.00 900 and AIR combine and run hourly
The late night services with the handy 'request stops' close to 'motorways' are getting popular
On Saturday 16th I decided to catch up with Anna Hughes memorial ride for Tim McKenna which camped overnight at Kinross
At 03.00 I booked on the 03.19 with my Pashley Mailstar (23Kg!) A good crowd of Friday night young revellers boarded (many using U22 bus passes, but one pair turned up & were shocked by price for not booking online, or having a bus pass...
Several got off at Cumbernauld
One on One off at Stirling
A crowd for Dunblane
One for Auchterader !
One for Perth but got off at Broxden P&R*
Then I got off at St Madoes (04.57) as this made a convenient change point for the E1 service (05.33) to Edinburgh This is a neat interchange - like Broxden (Perth) as coaches going each way loop through past the same stop, but Broxden has a 24hr convenience store at the P&R petrol station plus an indoor waiting room (mainly for the Citylink pax)
A slightly noisy groups remained on the back seats to Dundee
Some pester power thoughts to tackle folks
The service to Thurso might be more useful if it went via the road end at John o Groats and Gill's Bay (where the Pentland Ferries service crosses to St Margarets Hope 3 times per day - this almost enables a day trip to Orkney from Inverness or vice verse - this means a coach service to Inverness from JoG as well after a LEJoG ride, to then change for coach or train South
A stop at Bathgate (J3A - Boghall) near the old Motorola site added perhaps using the big Roundabout exit on to Pentland Road to turn and PU/SD with the nearby bus stops also served by 2 night bus services (N18 & N28) as well as local buses to Blackburn, Blackridge, Boghall & Livingston, plus 2 other express coach services (X27/28) for Midcalder/Livingston & (X18) for Whitburn to provide a connection to Glasgow without the need to take a slower longer & messier route. As a place to wait and trip chain/get a coffee there's also the Penny Petroleum petrol station. This I suspect would be a better place to stop that using Harthill Services, as the other 2 coach services do
This could be like the stop at Bridge of Earn of at J8 M90 round the village green & back on the M90. One detail that this presses for is to deliver warm & comfy bus shelters - perhaps INSIDE a convenient pub or local shop? Bridge of Earn seriously needs a place like this, and the hourly local buses run by Glenfarg CT can make local connections
Keep pressing Lothian Country too to carry cycles, starting with a trial using late night services on selected routes, to build this network
H