The recent devastating fire at the former Debenhams building on Princes Street has presented Edinburgh with an unprecedented transport challenge. With the Princes Street public transport corridor disrupted by a complete closure to all vehicle traffic between Frederick Street and Castle Street—possibly lasting for some time—public transport in the city centre is under severe strain.
While Edinburgh Trams are terminating at the West End, the overwhelming burden of moving residents, workers, and visitors has fallen back onto our bus network. Tens of thousands of passengers are being diverted daily via George Street and surrounding First New Town corridors.
The Edinburgh Bus Users’ Group (EBUG) is calling on the City of Edinburgh Council to implement immediate, temporary bus priority measures in the First New Town to prevent total gridlock.
Gridlock on Diversion Routes and the Summertime Streets Impact
George Street and the surrounding New Town grid are already busy corridors. Forcing hundreds of diverted bus services into a standard traffic layout without intervention will lead to severe network delays and bus bunching.
This friction is set to intensify drastically with the return of the Council’s Summertime Streets programme on Sunday 19 July. The upcoming festival closures and traffic restrictions on George Street will reduce available road space just as bus volumes peak. Without proactive management, a major drop in public transport reliability is guaranteed at the absolute height of Edinburgh’s summer season.
EBUG’s Call for Immediate Action
We therefore urge the Council to implement a rapid-response emergency traffic management plan using three temporary measures, carefully integrated with the upcoming festival layout:
- Temporary Bus-Only Lanes on George Street
George Street is bearing the brunt of the diverted traffic. The Council must install temporary, coned-off bus lanes along key operational sections of George Street to allow public transport to bypass private vehicles and delivery vans. - Strict Parking and Loading Restrictions
To keep the diversion routes flowing, a temporary ban on daytime parking and loading must be enforced on George Street, South Charlotte Street, and South St David Street. Delivery windows must be strictly limited to off-peak night hours to protect bus corridors. - Traffic Signal Priority at Key Junctions
Temporary adjustments should be made to traffic signal timings at critical bottlenecks—specifically the intersections of George Street with Frederick Street, Hanover Street, and Charlotte Square—to give longer green phases to public transport.
Buses carry almost ten times more passengers in Edinburgh than any other form of public transport. When Princes Street closes, the city’s mobility depends entirely on keeping buses moving.
We appreciate that Council teams are working under immense pressure to assess the building’s structural safety. However, transport policy cannot sit on the sidelines during a long closure. We must protect the reliability of the bus network and ensure that Edinburgh keeps moving during this crisis.
Edinburgh Bus Users’ Group (EBUG)
Representing Edinburgh’s bus passengers