I travelled into Edinburgh City Centre using the excellent Park and Ride facility at Ingliston, off the A8. Transbus Super Pointer Dart V171 EFS was on duty for this run. The service runs continuously from 6:45 in the morning to around midnight, 7 days a week, so no excuses.

I would strongly recommend the Ingliston Park and Ride to anyone with business in the city. Parking is free, you simply pay for your journey on the bus, at the standard rate of £1.00 for a single trip (so £2.00 in total); or, as I did, you can buy a £2.30 day ticket which gives you unlimited access to all standard Lothian services for the whole day. (much preferable to fighting your way into the city by car and then finding yourself charged through the nose to park - assuming you can find a space, that is....)

Typical of many of the modern Lothian fleet, 296 (W296 PFS) is a Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President. The attractive President design has ultimately become a victim of the TransBus collapse, the Wigan plant having been closed down by new owners, Alexander Dennis. Photographed on Princes St.

Visually similar to 296, 531 (V531 ESC) shares the Plaxton President body, but is a Dennis Trident. Princes St. at Waverley Bridge.

This was supposed to be a shot of one of First Edinburgh's new East Lancs - bodied Scania Omnidekkas, but the gleaming white paint didn't take too kindly to the light, so it has instead been included here as a photo of one of the remnants of the older, pre-low-floor fleet at Lothian. Passing the Scott Monument, 833 (G833 GSX) is an Alexander RH - bodied Leyland Olympian, dating from 1990.

As a long term detractor of the Dart (or 'Drat') I was surprised to find Lothian's examples to be spacious, comfortable and reasonably swift. Just shows you...

In 'Airlink' express livery for Airport Shuttle duties is 634 (SK52 OHT), a Transbus Trident / Plaxton President. Note that this service is among those not covered by the day ticket.

Another Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President is 291 (W291 PSF) seen here approaching Princes St. from South St. Andrew St.

Another Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident is 589 (X589 USC).

884 (K884 CSF) is part of the last batch of Leyland Olympians to be delivered, subsequent batches carrying Volvo badging.

Another of the popular Trident / Presidents is 539 (V539 ESC).

Another Trident / President, 518 (V518 ESC).

128 (SN04 NHZ) is a Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE, and is typical of recent Lothian single deck purchases.

Similar 115 duplicates on the 22. The 22 is one of two services currently using the guided busway in the western part of the city - of which we will see more later. The letters 'G' after the fleetnumbers and carried within the windscreens of these buses indicate that they are fitted with guidewheels for this purpose.

514 (V514 ESC) is yet another of the Trident / Presidents.

828 (G828 GSX) dates from 1990, and as such is among the oldest Leyland Olympian / Alexander RH's in the fleet. Photographed at the Gyle Centre.

102 (SN04 NGE) is another B7RLE adapted for the guided busway. If you look closely at the front wheels, you will see the guidewheels sticking out in front.

The other service operating via the Guided Busway is the 2, and Trident 600 (SN51 AYP) is another vehicle adapted for this use.

Another older member of the fleet is Olympian / RH, 835 (G835 GSX).

Another of the last batch of Leylands is 878 (K878 CSF).

Here we see a pair of B7's actually on the guided busway. The driver is essentially relegated to accelerating and braking, with no need to steer the vehicle.

Another B7 on the Guided Busway.

In stark contrast to the excellent park-and-ride services, I fail to see any point in this setup. The busway is only about 2 miles long, through a comparatively low congestion area of the city, and makes for a rough and uncomfortable ride for passengers, as the bus finds, and reacts to, all the wee imperfections in the kerb guides. For the same reason, the driver is well advised to keep his hands OFF the wheel, or risk a broken thumb when the thing suddenly lurches one way or the other.

Notice narrow gaps which the buses pass through when leaving the stops.

Trident 599 (SN51 AYO) on the Guided Busway. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for dedicated bus routes where appropriate - but why 'GUIDED?' Are we suggesting that, having successfully negotiated the entire route from Leith to this point, that the highly trained PSV drivers are not competent to control the vehicle in this short, quiet stretch? I can't see what the advantage is - the only 'gain' I could see was that some of the Tridents have 'gained' dents and scuffs around the lower front corners, where the clearance obviously wasn't sufficient.

Inside the top deck of Transbus Trident / President, 659 (SN04 AEX).

Old meets new: Former London AEC Routemaster, 485CLT, lines up alongside brand new Volvo B7 / Wright Eclipse Gemini, 701 (SN55 BJX). I believe the B7s were, at the time of photographing, unused. Photographed at Marine Depot.

702 (SN55 BJY), another fresh-out-of-the-box B7 / Wright Eclipse Gemini.

Routine maintenance inside Marine Depot.

431 (P431 KSX) is a Volvo Olympian / Alexander Royale with coach seats. It is one of a number of buses recently repainted into a bright red and white livery, as opposed to the traditional (and still attractive) 'madder' and white.

Amazing how the space of a couple of weeks can have such a drastic effect on the weather. One of LB's new Volvo B7 / Wright Eclipse Geminis, 717 (SN55 BLF) is among those branded 'Club Class' for service 3 and 3A. These next 8 pictures were taken on 19th November, only a month later than the summery scenes above!

A 'gey dreich' day on Princes St. sees 267 (P267 PSX) followed by an unidentified Leyland Olympian.

The Leyland is from the J---TSC batch, but I'm afraid I can't be more specific.

A number of the Geminis are unbranded, as in the case of 725 (SN55 BMV) here.

Even Lothian's older vehicles still look smart. 850 (J850 TSC) dates from 1991.

A type I'd been trying (unsuccessfully) to catch for some time was the Dennis Trident / Alexander ALX400, as exemplified by 501 (T501 SSG). These were pretty rare in the Lothian fleet - there were only ever 5, and all of them have since been converted to open top for City Sightseeing work.

689 (SN04 AEC), branded for route 26, passes the Castle. I'm sure a few Vintage Bus enthusiasts would pay good money to put that registration on their car...!

Edinburgh Castle towers majestically over 951 (L951 MSC)

A festive view of Transbus Trident / Plaxton President 678 (SN04 ACU) as it passes the Christmas Funfare in Princes St. Gardens

Former Airlink, coach seated Leyland Olympian / Alexander, 371 (F371 WSC) in the new bright red and white colors that these vehicles are starting to appear in. The livery recalls the old Musselburgh and District Tramways fleet.

A Plaxton President- bodied bus (Not clear whether it's a Dennis Trident or a Volvo B7TL) passes the Scott Monument, followed by a First Edinburgh Scania / Wright Axcess.

508 (T508 SSG) is one of the earliest Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents. The first five Tridents had Alexander ALX400 bodies.

Another unidentified President at the Scott Monument

750 (SN55 BPO) is, numerically, the final member of the first batch of Wright Eclipse Gemini / Volvo B7TLs to join the fleet, and is route branded for Service 44. Don't ask me why that particular route should be found to "Sparkle"... More Gemini / B7TLs are due in 2006.

Two different approaches to route-branding here: Dennis Trident / Plaxton President 695 (SN04 AEK) has Gold route-branding for "Service 26 - East to West through the Heart of the City" ; an unidentified Wright Eclipse Gemini / Volvo B7TL follows, branded for Service 44 - "Service with a Sparkle." Behind these is a Guidewheel-equipped Wright Eclipse Urban-bodied Volvo B7RLE for use on Service 22, from Ocean Terminal to the Gyle Centre, via the guided busway.

Airport Express Trident / President, 633 (SN53 AVZ) pauses in the half-light on Princes Street, on its way to Waverley Bridge.

Leyland Olympian / Alexander RH, 889 (K889 CSF) on Princes St, against the impressive backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

Olympian / Royale 433 (P433 KSX) descends The Mound