Local Bus Operator, First Scotland East, today welcomed the news that bus services will again enjoy access to Shandwick Place as of Saturday (19 October), following the completion of tram works.
This will enable First’s services from West Lothian, East Lothian and the x38 service linking Edinburgh with Central Scotland including Linlithgow Falkirk and Stirling, with direct access to and from Princes Street from Haymarket for the first time in a number of years.
As a result First Scotland East will be able to provide its customers with faster, more direct bus journeys.
Welcoming the news First Scotland East’s Operations Director, John Gorman, said: “This is great news for First and our customers. We’ll be able to remove a number of diversions and speed up our services as they’ll operate a more direct route.
“We want to encourage more people out of their cars and onto our buses. As Princes Street is available for public transport only, we re-gain a terrific advantage over the car – we’ll be able to speed up journey times, avoid congestion and further improve the reliability and punctuality of our bus services.”
He continued: “We are working incredibly hard behind the scenes to prepare for the changes. As a result of quicker journey times, we obviously need to amend our timetables. We’ll be doing everything we can to ensure a seamless transition including having extra staff on the ground at the weekend and on Monday to deal with any customer enquiries and extending our Twitter operations.”