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| April
2004 |
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| The
Forth Bridges - not a fourth at bridge |
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Edinburgh is one
of the top tourist attractions in Britain. Visitors come to
see the Castle, the Royal Mile and the Forth Bridges (left).
The bus station however is not on many people's list which is not
surprising considering it used to be a bit of a black hole.
Recently though it has been completely re-built. Will it be on
your list now when you visit the capital ? |
| Edinburgh
Bus Station |
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| Not
many operators have taken up the option to depart from the new bus station
(above). The new bus station offers the usual East
coast hospitality - "come away in, you'll have had your tea ?" (right) |
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main services to use the bus station are Citylink and National Express,
Fife and Borders routes. All remaining East and West Lothian
services have not returned after the former bus station closed in 2000. |
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| Parks Volvo/Jonckheere
HSK644 arrives on the National Express service from Hull. |
First have
recently retrenched from the Borders, but they still operate most
of the trunk routes such as the (62) here run by 36 (N536VSA). |
| The
Supporters |
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Upper
left: East Lothian services still leave from Haymarket at the
west end of Edinburgh. First Edinburgh 522 (R522BMS), a
standard Wright bodied Volvo, passes the Hearts war memorial heading for
Dunbar.
Lower left: Independent operators have also been reluctant to return
to the bus station as represented by Munro's Optare Solo 303 (VU52UEC) on
service from Newcastle.
Right: West and Mid-Lothian services leave from Waterloo
Place, such as First Edinburgh 974 (L554USU), a Volvo Olympian
on the Bathgate service. |
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| Originally the main departure
point for buses in Edinburgh was from around St. Andrews Square at the
east end of the city. In 1957 the first proper bus
station was opened which
consisted of four stances lettered A to D. Subsequently stance
E was opened for tours and express services. In the early
1970's stances B, C and D were covered by an office block converting the
bus station into a damp dungeon as can be seen (above left) by Fife
FPE88 (YSF88S), carrying a broadside advert for the Laidlaw garage,
on stance D on a glorious summer's day in June 1978 preparing to depart
for Perth. After the bus station was closed in 2000, all the
services moved to the street (where most still remain).
Express services and those to Fife returned to their spiritual home round
St. Andrews Square itself where Stagecoach 553 (M953TSX) is seen (above
right) on the (X54) service to Dundee in December 2002. |
| The
Predecessors |
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| All photos
taken in April 2003, unless stated. Click to enlarge. |
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