From October 1, Lothian Buses will start running their new Skylink 300 hybrid bus service between Ocean Terminal and Edinburgh Airport, rebranding the current standard number 35 bus.
In a press release, Lothian Buses announced the new airport service, an addition to their Airlink 100 and Skylink 200 services.
The soon to be replaced Service 35 currently offers access to the airport from across the city of Edinburgh, ultimately terminating in Leith.
In the press release, Lothian Buses stated that Skylink 300 fares would “be brought into line with those on [their] other airport services” and that the “timetable and fares for other parts of the route will remain the same” as current service.
It has been reported that a £6 million investment allowed the rebranding.
Part of this investment includes a £1.5 million contribution by the Scottish Green Bus Fund, which will provide 20 new hybrid buses for the new route.
According to its financer Transport Scotland, The Scottish Green Bus Fund aims to “support the wider roll out of low carbon buses across Scotland and [build] on the success of previous [years of the fund].”
In the past six rounds of the Fund, varying transportation authorities have been financially supported through the purchase of 315 new low carbon emission buses.
Local authorities and general bus companies are among the organisations that can apply for funding, with the sole purpose of lessening the environmental impact of Scotland’s transportation.
Lothian Buses are implementing environmentally friendly transportation across their Airport Service range, having recently introduced a double decker service to the presently running single decker Skylink 200 service.
“The higher-capacity buses for this route will meet the Euro6 environmental standard,” the company stated in a press release.
Sarah Aron, a second year International Relations with Quantitative Methods student told The Student, “While public transportation is already a better choice of travelling to the environmental challenges we face today, implementing eco-friendly, hybrid bus services is simply an all better step.
“Hopefully many students will be able to use the new hybrid bus service, and embrace this way of travelling further.”
Along with their ‘green’ efforts, the new set of Skylink 300 buses will have multiple USB charging points, free Wifi, flight departure information and dedicated luggage areas monitored by CCTV.
Richard Townsend, Edinburgh Airport’s Director of Retail and Property, told Edinburgh Evening News: “Making sure people can arrive at the airport and get into our stunning capital as quickly and smoothly as possible is key to a positive experience, and Lothian’s continued support in playing its part in that excellent local transport network is very much welcomed.”
Image: Peter Broster