Lothian Buses: boat tour bus

English: The Forth Bridges Bus & Boat Tour is one of the various tour bus services operated by Lothian Buses. It was set up in 2007 as a seasonal service, and features a bus tour from the city centre to South Queensferry, to link with the Forth Belle boat for a tour of the Firth of Forth, taking in views of the Forth bridges and a visit to Inchcolm island, and latterly also views of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, during its assembly at Rosyth Dockyard. Unlike the other tours, it requires only one bus, which is painted in a dedicated yellow/blue livery. Initially this was Volvo Olympian / Alexander Royale No. 433, but it has since been replaced from 2012 by Dennis Trident / Plaxton President No. 651.

Royale 433 (P433 KSX)

No. 433 was a coach seated vehicle delivered in 1996 to the coach division of Lothian predecessor, Lothian Region Transport, painted in their white livery. Passing to Lothian, it latterly wore white but with special branding for the dedicated X50 service to the Royal Yacht Britannia). After that service was rebranded in 2004 as the Majestic Tour, No. 433 was cascaded to the main fleet, painted in standard madder & white livery, before its eventual transfer to the boat tour in 2007. Withdrawn in 2011, it was later sold to West Coast Motors, joining other ex-Lothian Royales disposed from the main fleet in 2009.

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Trident 651 (XIL 1484) (ex-SK52 OHN)

Replacing No. 433 from the 2012 season was a new bus cascaded from the main fleet, No. 651, drawn from the 52-registered batch of Dennis Trident / Plaxton Presidents. For the boat tour it had its original registration, SK52 OHN, replaced with the ageless mark, XIL 1484.

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