Lothian Buses are recruiting up to 40 new drivers and 10 apprentice engineers to help provide extra services to meet increased customer demand.

As part of this package of changes being introduced on April 10th, Sunday services on 5 routes will see frequencies increased from 30 to 20 minutes and Monday-Friday, Service 24 which links the Western General and Royal Infirmary will see its daytime frequency increased from 30 to 20 minutes. Many services will see changes to improve frequency, reliability and connections, particularly at peak times.

A fare review will also see 75% of passengers unaffected, including regular travellers using the Ridacard season ticket. Adult and child single tickets will increase by 10p to £1.60 and 80p respectively, the first rise in 3 years. Fares for all Daytickets will remain the same, as will NightBus, Day&Night tickets and Airlink.

Jim McFarlane, General Manager, at Lothian Buses, said: “We’re very pleased that this latest timetable and fare review has allowed us to improve services while also maintaining prices for the vast majority of our regular and loyal passengers. The changes we have made are a direct response to feedback from our customers and we’re in a position to introduce them thanks to continued strong business performance over many years. As one of Edinburgh’s largest employers we are delighted to have the opportunity to add to our team. We are also pleased that Lothian Buses will be able to benefit the city’s environment with further investment in low emission vehicles.”

• Service 1,7,14,19 and 34 will increase in frequency on Sundays from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.
• Service 24 will see its daytime frequency increase from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. This is a key link for the Western General Hospital and Royal Infirmary.
• Services 7,11,19,24,27,30,31 and 35 will offer more seats at peak times.
• Service 49 will operate a revised weekday timetable and the journeys, which currently terminate at Sherrifhall Park and Ride, will now be extended to Dalkeith Campus.

Nightbus services are also improving, notably including Service N25 –frequency is doubling with buses now every 30 minutes.

From 10th April changes are also being made to the location of where buses stop on Princes Street with an aim of reducing delays and speeding up journey times for passengers.

Since 2011 the company has also invested £18.5m in 85 new low emission and ultra-low emission buses that will significantly impact on improving the city’s air quality and lower carbon emissions. The company also now only purchase vehicles with Euro 5 or higher standard engines and currently 66% of their fleet are now of this standard.

Lothian Buses previously announced bus passengers were up from 118.4 million to 120.5 million in 2015.

Full details are available at: www.lothianbuses.com