Though it's not possible to travel very far right now, we can all still dream about our next trip to Scotland and hope that we'll be able to welcome you again very soon. You can find more information on visiting Scotland during the Covid-19 recovery phases.
Stagecoach
Stagecoach would like all their passengers to wear face coverings and have issued detailed and regular reminders to their teams about hygiene good practice and the importance of hand washing.
Stagecoach are continuing to carry out additional cleaning of key touchpoints, encouraging people to follow the physical distancing guidelines and are asking passengers to use contactless as a method of payment to pay for their journey. For more information, please visit the Stagecoach Coronavirus Information and FAQs page.
First Bus
First Bus are continuing to run as many buses as possible to ensure you can continue your day-to-day travel, subject to government travel advice. Before travelling, First Bus are encouraging all customers in Scotland to download the Protect Scotland app.
First Bus are encouraging passengers to make contactless payments but cash will be taken if that's not possible. Please provide the correct fare for your journey as no change will be given.
First Bus are reminding passengers to maintain physical distancing on public transport and are now running more buses to help manage reduced capacity. If you’re waiting for a bus and the bus drives past, it means it has reached its reduced seating capacity. If the bus does stop, but is near capacity, the driver will only allow one person to board for every person that gets off, so you may need to allow extra time for your journey and be prepared to wait. Please remember to bring a face covering or mask for your journey, it needs to fit well and cover your mouth and must be put on before you are boarding. If you have an exemption and you are unable to wear a face covering, please be prepared to inform the driver or show an Extra help card (Journey assistance card).
Further measures have also been put in place for passengers to adhere to physical distancing guidelines with new capacity signs by the entrance of each bus, seat signs and tape to clearly show where passengers should/shouldn’t sit to maintain a safe distance and reminders to be considerate to other passengers while standing is no longer allowed. If you require further help, visit the First Bus Coronavirus advice page.
Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses will continue to provide a service for those that need to travel and would encourage all customers to plan their journeys in advance using their mobile app or the journey planner on their website.
The Waverley TravelHub and Shandwick Place Travel Hub are now open Monday to Saturday between 08:30 - 17:30. The Park and Ride sites and Airlink Kiosk remain closed. The Lost Property office will be open for collection only, Monday to Thursday between 14:00 - 17:00 and will be operating a reduced service over the festive period. For more information, please visit the Lothian Buses website.
Everyone who is considering travel arrangements should remember the guidelines to wear a face covering when travelling by bus or coach and to plan ahead carefully.
Please remember to maintain physical distancing of 1 metre at all times with one person to a seat or by using every other seat where possible.
All of Scotland's major towns and cities are served by short and long-distance bus services. Long-distance buses are known in Britain as coaches and are a popular way to travel across the country.
Coach operators
Most of the inter-city and longer distance coach services around Scotland are provided by:
Tickets for these services can be bought in advance by phone, online, in stations and often on board. For busy routes and when travelling at peak times, such as weekends or national holidays, it's a good idea to book as early as possible to guarantee a seat.
Coach discount fare options
If you plan to do a lot of travelling by coach, save money with multi-journey tickets, such as:
- Explorer Pass - offers unlimited travel on Scottish Citylink network.
- Megarider - offered by Stagecoach and provides unlimited travel within certain areas.
- National Express Brit Xplorer Pass - ideal if you're planning to travel in England and Wales too. This ticket gives you unlimited travel throughout Britain on National Express coaches.