'Winners and losers’ as Lothian Buses scraps hospital route

Lothian Buses is scrapping a direct bus route from the village of Rosewell to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as part of a shake-up of service from mid-February.

The No 46 service, which was introduced three years ago, runs from Rosewell to Musselburgh via Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg and Fort Kinnaird as well as the hospital.

The 31 service from Edinburgh city centre to Polton will be extended to Rosewell to provide seven-day-a-week travel, and a new 39 service will run from Polton to Bonnyrigg and Dalkeith.

Lothian Buses said the changes were as a result of requests from the local community who wanted more direct services into the city centre.

They said: “Over the last three years, the level of customer usage in Rosewell has remained consistent; however, it is not at a level that can sustain two separate bus services – a service into Edinburgh and a local Midlothian service.

“During this time, we have had a significant number of requests for a direct Rosewell to Edinburgh bus service, all day and all week. We are confident this alteration now meets the expectations of the majority of bus users in Rosewell.”

Midlothian Council leader Kelly Parry said the decisions taken by Lothian Buses in its review of services had “winners and losers”.

She said: “The route changes were a commercial decision taken by Lothian Buses. Whilst the council remains committed to working in partnership with Lothian Buses, we are not involved in the decision-making process, but are kept informed.

“There will be winners and losers from today’s announcement, particularly those from the Rosewell Community who often bear the brunt of service changes.

“Whilst a direct service to Edinburgh is helpful for those commuting for employment purposes, passengers taking more local journeys within Midlothian will be impacted.

“We have asked Lothian Buses to be mindful of journey times to schools, and for ease of connecting to services that access the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and the Midlothian Community Hospital.

“We will continue discussions with Lothian Buses following these recent announcements.”

Other changes in Midlothian will see the 48 service, which runs from Gorebridge to Musselburgh via Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, increase from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes during the week.

However, some Mayfield stops are being dropped because of recent changes to speed limits on them, which Lothian Buses said had necessitated a review of running times.

A full breakdown of the revised timetables can be found on Lothian Buses website here.

Sarah Boyd, Chief Executive of Lothian and Edinburgh Trams, said: “As the main bus operator across Edinburgh and the surrounding area, Lothian is fully committed to delivering for the local communities we serve.

“The introduction of these improvements across our wider bus network will enable us to continue responding to customer demand while enhancing the reliability of our services.

“These changes reflect our ongoing investment in the network and our focus on providing safe, dependable and accessible transport for customers.”