Thursday August 28th 2025
Lothian Bus service
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
A lifeline bus service serving a west Edinburgh village should be kept in place by subsidies, according to a city councillor.
Lothian Buses announced earlier this month that the 72 Lothian Country service would stop serving Kirkliston, and instead end earlier along its route in Winchburgh.
Kirkliston residents will still be able to reach Winchburgh on the X19 bus, but will lose a one-seat ride to St John’s Hospital, Broxburn, Uphall and Livingston.
The firm did not detail why the change was being made – but West Lothian Council only subsidises the service to the border with Edinburgh.
Now, Liberal Democrat councillor Kevin Lang, who represents the village, wants to see action taken before the service is axed on September 7.
He has put forward a motion to Thursday’s full Edinburgh Council meeting, which asks officers to explore what options are available about retaining the link to Kirliston.
If approved, it would see a report being presented to the city’s transport committee as soon as possible detailing if a subsidy from Edinburgh Council could keep the connection alive.
Cllr Lang said: “Kirkliston already has limited public transport connections. The 72 provides a key bus link with the local hospital as well connections for work and shopping with Broxburn and Livingston.
“I’m really concerned at the sudden loss of this service for local people, especially those without access or unable to use a car.
“With most of the current service funded by West Lothian Council, there must be an opportunity for Edinburgh Council to step in and fund the remainder of the route.
“We need the options and costs to be brought forward urgently so we can try and save this vital bus link for the village.”
The service change comes as part of a wider set of modifications to bus service in Edinburgh and nearby councils.
In West Lothian, the X18 service will get an extra service in each direction on weekdays, and between the two councils, the X27 and X28 will make less stops in Edinburgh.
And, the X27 service will gain extra services towards Edinburgh in the mornings.
The 72 bus, despite losing its connection to Kirkliston, will run more frequently, going from every 60 minutes to every 40 minutes.
And the 73 and 74 are set for significant changes, with the 73 partially taking on a new routing that links Armadale and Livingston.
The 74 will pick up some of the areas no longer served by the 73, but will stop serving parts of Ladywell and lose its stop outside St John’s Hospital.
However, the 72, X27, X28 and X40 services will all still stop outside the hospital.
With the changes, the 73 and 74 together will run a half-hourly service in each direction on shared portions of their route from Monday to Saturday.
In Midlothian, the Straiton park and ride is set to close, with the three services which run there no longer stopping there.
And in East Lothian, the X4 East Coast service will lose afternoon peak hours services to Tranent Castle, as well as the midnight service from Tranent to Musselburgh.
But it will gain extra early morning services, which the firm says will improve its coordination with the 106 and 113.
And the 106 service will run through Edinburgh city centre Monday through Saturday, with services terminating at the Western General Hospital.
Sunday services on the route will still terminate at Fort Kinnaird, as at present.
Within Edinburgh, cuts are to be made to the NightBus offering, with the N22 being scrapped in its entirety and the N26 losing much of its route west of the city centre.
In their place, a new N1 service – running once a night, versus the three services a night on the N22 – will begin running.
And three other night bus services, the N25, N30 and N31, will either see frequencies drop or lose some services on some days of the week, while half of the N3’s services will turn short at Mayfield.
However, the N35 service from Ocean Terminal to Heriot-Watt will gain a new service in one direction every night.
Other changes to daytime Lothian services will also come into effect on September 7.
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