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Edinburgh Reporter
11-07-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Lothian Buses warns Edinburgh residents about free Ridacard scam
Lothian Buses has warned Edinburgh residents about a scam targeting city bus riders. According to the company, fraudsters on Facebook have been making posts claiming that the first 500 residents to visit a website, complete a form and pay £2 will get a 6 month Ridacard. Lothian has said that they are not offering any free Ridacards, and urge anyone who completed the survey and paid the £2 to contact their banking provider immediately. In a post on Facebook, they wrote: 'We've been made aware of another Facebook scam. 'Please do not click any links or provide bank information to a third party. If you have done so, please notify your banking provider immediately.' The company's Ridacards offer unlimited travel across the Lothian network, including the trams, East Coast Buses and Lothian Country. It does not offer a six-month Ridacard, instead offering weekly cards for £24.50, monthly ones for £73, and yearly ones for £700. Students are also able to get discounted Ridacards, and can purchase one which only covers the university term at a cost of £530. Ridacards cannot be bought online, and are only available at one of the company's Travel Hubs in Edinburgh. The scammers claim in their social media posts and on their website that the giveaway is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Lothian Buses. Visitors to the site are asked to complete a short survey, asking how they feel about Lothian Buses' service, and are then asked to provide personal information. After this, they are redirected to the website for a Cypriot do-it-yourself website building service, and asked to enter their card details for a £3 purchase. In the fine print below the form for the card details, the website says that the £3 is for a four day trial of the company's services, after which the user would be entered into a £92/month subscription with the firm. When contacted by phone, the firm denied that it sold bus passes, and said that they only sold 'digital services'. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
10-07-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Fares set to rise on Airlink 100 bus service
Fares are set to be hiked on a critical Edinburgh bus service operated by Lothian Buses after it was excluded from a network-wide fare increase in April. The Airlink 100 service, connecting the city centre to Edinburgh Airport, will see fares for both singles and returns jump up 50p from Sunday, July 27. Singles on the route, which runs via Haymarket, Murrayfield and Corstorphine, will jump up to £6.00, up from £5.50 prior to the change, while returns will go from £8.00 to £8.50. And family returns will jump £2.00, from £20 to £22. However, passengers using a Ridacard or who reach the weekly contactless payment cap will not see an increase in prices. And, special single fares between Maybury and the airport on the service will remain, with one adult ticket staying at £3.50 and a child fare remaining at £1.75. In April, fares across the Lothian network were increased. Adult single tickets were hiked by 20p to £2.20, while day tickets were increased in price from £5.00 to £5.50. The daily contactless fare cap was pushed up from £4.80 to £5.00, and the weekly cap jumped from £22.00 to £24.50. Ridacards and child tickets also saw fare hikes, with a monthly Ridacard going from £62.00 to £68.00 and a yearly one from £650 to £700. Fares on services in East and West Lothian were also increased, with most tickets getting a 20p increase. The changes to the Airlink fares will not impact the city's other two airport bus services, the 17 and the 18. They will retain their lower fares, which are in line with those on Lothian's other city bus services. Before April, the two routes had special pricing, and were branded differently, but this was changed as part of revisions to the Lothian network that month.. The 17, which connects Leith to the airport, was known as the Skylink 200, while the 18, which ran between the airport and Fort Kinnaird, was the Skylink 400. During the changes in April, Lothian also brought three bus routes in East Lothian – the 120, 121 and 123 – under its East Coast Buses brand. The company had previously operated them through another subsidiary, Eve Coaches. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
18-06-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Edinburgh Council set to spend £1.7m on Tour de France
Up to £1.7 million should be drawn from the city's financial reserves and put towards the 2027 Tour de France, according to plans set to go before Edinburgh councillors for sign-off on Thursday. Both the men's and women's races are set to begin in the UK in 2027, with the men's race beginning in Edinburgh. A report on unaudited council accounts for the past financial year contains an ask for up to £1.7m to be spent on the race from council reserves, with plans to backfill the spend with money from the city's upcoming Visitor Levy. The report does not specify what the money will be used for, but it says the council has been in 'confidential discussions' with the Scottish Government and VisitScotland about hosting the event. The SNP group has tabled an amendment to the unaudited accounts, which if approved by councillors would see the spending request denied. The 2027 running of the Tour de France will be the first time both the men's and the women's race start in the same country, where that country is not France. Edinburgh has never hosted any part of the race before, but it has come to the UK four times: in 1974, 1994, 2007 and 2014. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
03-06-2025
- General
- Edinburgh Reporter
Two Edinburgh schools are set to be renamed to reduce stigma toward pupils
Two Edinburgh schools are set to be renamed in hopes of reducing confusion and decreasing stigma towards pupils. Officers have suggested new names for St Mary's RC Primary School (Leith) and Gorgie Mills School, with councillors set to make a decision next Tuesday. The Roman Catholic primary in Leith is set to become Star of the Sea RC Primary School, over ongoing issues with it being confused with St Mary's RC Primary School, which is located in Canonmills. According to a council report, both schools get post and deliveries for one another, as well as contractors turning up to perform works on the wrong school. Further, both schools are often incorrectly contacted by government agencies, and parents will occasionally enroll their children at the wrong school. It says: 'While these issues individually may not seem overly problematic, when they happen as often as they do, the result is a considerable waste of staff time and can often have a direct impact on learning and teaching time. 'It also dilutes the sense of identity and individuality of each school.' Both schools are attached to Catholic churches named St Mary's, with the Canonmills school attached to St Mary's cathedral and the Leith one linked to St Mary Star of the Sea parish church. Meanwhile, Gorgie Mills School is set to become Westfield Secondary School, after a consultation with pupils, parents and staff. Gorgie Mills School was formed in 2007 as a merger of three schools, and was launched to care for students with 'social, emotional and behavioural' needs. But it has changed towards becoming a school for additional support needs pupils more generally. The council report read: 'Young people feel strongly that the current name carries with it negativity and stigmatism which they would like to eradicate. 'The school community believe that changing the name of the school will support in the re-branding of the school and emphasise the significant changes that have taken place in recent years.' Votes were held among staff, pupils, parents and other groups at each school, with the majority of respondents at each approving of name changes. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Edinburgh Reporter
Action needed to control busking in the capital councillor warns
Action is needed to control busking in the Capital, a councillor has warned, as it emerged new rules for performers have been delayed beyond the start of the summer. The council started work last year to try and develop new rules for busking and busker management. Officers had intended to submit a report on the topic in autumn last year – but this has since been delayed until beyond the start of this summer. Liberal Democrat councillor Edward Thornley put forward a motion to the city's Culture and Communities Committee calling for an update on busking in the city. In it, he asks for council officers to present information on how effective temporary measures put in place during summer 2024 were, highlighting any new approaches and asking for any data that might be available. Last summer, the council put up posters at popular busking spots reminding performers of rules and passed out 'busking guides', in addition to an increased level of street outreach. He also asks that officers provide an update on the report concerning the new busker rules, and an outline of what steps will be taken towards their introduction. Officers met with buskers, fringe acts and members of the public when developing the new rules. At present, the council's rules for busking are available on the city's website. It calls on buskers to only perform between 9am and 9pm, and to move to a new site at least 50 metres away after every hour. Additionally, it asks them to keep the volume of their performances low, to not disturb nearby businesses and residents. It also says that buskers should not pitch up within 50 metres of another performer, and calls on them to not block pavements, doorways or cashpoints. It further says that Police Scotland can charge and seize the equipment of buskers in some circumstances. As of now, buskers do not need a licence to perform in the city. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
