Thursday November 6th 2025
Borders Bus service X62 advertising 'the bus you can take your bike on'
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Borders Buses have been accused of ‘falsely advertising the ability to bring bikes on the bus’ after a Midlothian local was turned away from the X62 service on his way home from work for having his bike despite the service being advertised as bike-friendly.
James and his family moved to Midlothian last month, still working in Edinburgh James uses a mixture of cycling, driving and public transport to travel to his job.
On Tuesday he stayed late at work, planning his travel arrangements home around taking the X62 service with his bike in the evening. Arriving at the bus station and queuing for the service he explained that he was rudely told by the driver “you’re not bringing that on here”.
Explaining to the driver that his understanding was that this service was bike friendly due to advertisement on the side of the bus and that he planned his journey home around this understanding he was told “not this bus” and offered no explanation, resulting in him cycling from Leith to his home in Midlothian in the dark.
In an email of complaint to Borders Buses, James explained:
“For weeks, I saw that the X62 is bike-friendly (from your advertisements and decals on your buses), and I was excited at the prospect of using your service if I ever need to travel home with my bike.
“I then had to cycle home late in the evening in the dark, which I never do due to safety concerns in the winter.
“I’m appalled that the advertisement and branding you use, advertising the X62 as bike-friendly, is actually deceptive and dangerous for people to rely on. There is nothing that lets passengers know whether the X62 bus lets you or can’t take your bike on it.”
Receiving a response, Borders Buses told James that “you can’t rely on the bus being bike-friendly; it’s arbitrarily allocated on the day of travel”.
James expressed his frustration, explaining: “This means I personally can’t rely on that service for future travel”.
Reaching out to Borders Buses for an explanation, Midlothian View received the same email as James.
In the email they explained that you can take your bike on some services if they are operated by one of the bike-friendly buses but they allocate bike buses in the morning.
They also said: “Unfortunately, there are limited bike spaces, and it is a first come first served basis, wheelchair users also take priority.
“If the bus is busy and people are in the bike bay area our drivers will ask them to move up the bus, if possible, to allow the bike on board but we cannot force people to move, travel may be refused for the bike user if this is the case.”
Offering a solution, they explained that at present the only way to track their bike buses is through their mobile app.
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