Lothian has today (Monday 17 February) announced changes to its network as work is set to begin on Leith Walk for the next stage of the Trams to Newhaven project.

The Leith Walk corridor will see significant traffic management put in place from Saturday 28 March 2020 for 18 months, resulting in major diversions to all bus services in this area. The company is urging all customers, not just regular commuters, to find out and plan in advance how this might impact on their journey.

The main daytime services affected include the 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 25 and 49, which will follow different routes on journeys towards Leith. Night buses will be similarly affected.

Nigel Serafini, Commercial Director at Lothian, said: “With less than six weeks to go before the diversions begin, we would like to take this opportunity to strongly encourage as many people as possible to leave the car at home and consider all the active travel options including public transport to minimise the impact of congestion in this area.

“There is no doubt that this will have a significant impact on our customers but we’ve worked extremely hard to minimise disruption. Information on all services affected is also available on bus, on our website and through our social media channels and customers should plan their journey in advance using our mobile app. We thank our customers for their understanding and patience during these works.”

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “As we approach this major phase in the Trams to Newhaven project we’re working closely with Lothian to minimise disruption, and to encourage customers to plan travel ahead in light of service changes. We’ve been engaging with the community in the lead-up to this crucial stage on Leith Walk to keep them up-to-speed and will be writing to over 29,000 residents and businesses over the next few weeks to share details of the planned works.”

The Lothian app offers journey planning tools and real-time service updates, all integrated with Google Maps. Following a recent upgrade, it is also now available in 11 languages. It can be downloaded from tfeapp.com.

Lothian are also introducing changes to some services from Sunday 29th March 2020, incorporating the Leith Walk diversions along with other timetables changes designed to further improve reliability against a backdrop of increasing congestion. Full information can be found on its website www.lothianbuses.co.uk

Lothian will also provide information on buses, at bus stops and through its social media channels, including updates throughout the construction works.