My bucket list bus ride blunder: Part 2

Thursday 23rd July 2026

I left you in Tuesday’s blog having missed the last ferry departure of the day from Tobermory to Kilchoan as it set sail two minutes earlier than scheduled, albeit all checked in passengers and vehicles that had arrived within the required 10 minutes check-in time were on board. But not me. My mission had been to travel on the once a day journey on route 506 from Kilchoan to Fort William the next morning.

It was now 17:58 and my immediate thoughts turned to ‘what do I do now?’ I sensed coming up with a Plan B quickly was essential to avoid getting stranded for the night.

Checking the CalMac timetable posted by the jetty I noted the first ferry in the morning leaves Tobermory at 07:20 with an arrival into KIlchoan at 07:55 which checking Shiel Buses website I saw was a minute before the bus on route 506 leaves the slipway at 07:56. My initial thought was to give that a go and try and find somewhere to stay in Tobermory for the night.

However, the first hotel/pub I called into as I walked back round the bay advised they had no rooms for the night and I began thinking this may not be a good idea, especially as based on that afternoon’s experience I didn’t have much confidence in ferry/bus connections, especially a ‘one minute’ one. (I subsequently saw on Shiel Buses website the 07:56 bus will connect with the incoming ferry at 07:55 as a commenter observed on Tuesday’s blog).

But such a plan needed accommodation in Tobermory and I wasn’t confident about that. I also quickly checked the Premier Inn website and noted there was a room available at its hotel back in Oban (albeit at an eye watering price) and decided that might be the best bet rather than risk no rooms available in Tobermory (or Craignure) – except I had to rush back to the bus terminal point as it was now approaching 18:05 and the last bus of the day back to Craignure for the ferry to Oban leaves at 18:10.

Weighing up the options in the short time I had for decision making I decided to play it safe with securing a room for the night being more important than catching the 506 the next morning. Sadly that delight would have to be abandoned.

Luckily after another speed walk I managed to get to the bus just in time although the driver looked puzzled to see me back again until I explained what had happened.

It was a busier journey back to Craignure with around 25 people on board the bus and most were also catching the ferry due to leave at 19:25.

I called into CalMac’s office in Craignure to buy a ticket and explained what had happened at Tobermory to which the helpful member of staff suggested I contact CalMac’s customer service.

Ironically the Oban ferry was running 15 minutes late and arrived around the time it should have left at 19:25 and by the time all the vehicles and foot passengers had alighted and vehicles and foot passengers loaded it was about 19:45 when we set sail (was well past the 10 minute “check-in” time!).

Arriving into Oban I noticed there’s a ScotRail departure for Glasgow at 20:39 – the last of the day – which is advertised on the CalMac website as connecting with the incoming ferry normally due in at 20:15 but as we got almost docked I notice the time was then 20:37 and could sense the anxiety among some of those waiting to disembark.

However, I’m pleased to report the train stayed in the platform after 20:39 and even though I didn’t hurry off the ship, I passed the entrance to the station at 20:43 and the train was still there. It left at 20:46 having given enough time for ferry passengers to reach it, which was impressive to see.

After a Premier Inn night in Oban rather than a Kilchoan Hotel in Kilchoan, I decided to forget all about the now abandoned idea of catching the 506 and get my itinerary back on track by catching the CityLink/West Coast Motors route 918/919 from Oban up to Fort William.

This is yet another route being contested by ember which also runs from Oban via Fort William and on to Inverness with the 918/919 doing the same.

Ember’s departures, from Oban are at 10:23, 15:34 and 19:59 whereas CityLink/West Coast Motors offers 06:50, 09:30, 13:50 and 15:57. The 09:30 departure was just right for my needs and although I could buy a ticket from the driver I booked the £2 single fare on CityLink’s website.

It was quite a busy journey with 13 boarding in Oban’s small bus departing area alongside the station, and five more coming on board as we headed north. Six more joined us in Duror and eight alighted in Ballaculish with a fair few of those heading for the nearby Glen Coe mountain and where we also paused for a brief toilet stop. It’s another delightfully scenic journey and this time we travelled over the bridge at Connel…

… with its views out to Ardmucknish Bay…

… as well as other sights to behold.

We reached Fort William exactly on time at 11:05.

My next journey was on the wonderful West Highland Line from Fort William down to Glasgow on which I’d pre-booked an advanced ticket for £19.95 until I realised I’d made a mistake by booking on the 17:37 departure rather than the 11:40 so had had to amend it to a standard single.

It was a busy journey with all four coaches of the train well occupied and the scenery was as stunning as always…

… helped by glorious weather…

… including brilliant sunshine.

We encountered a delay at Crianlarich waiting for the late running train from Oban to join us so left there 11 minutes late but such is the generosity of time allowance in the Dumbarton to Glasgow section of route we arrived into Glasgow’s Queen Street at 15:35, only one minute late.

My next mission was to get over to Edinburgh for my second night’s stay and although I could have taken ScotRail’s half hourly service via Falkirk taking 51 minutes I thought I’d try out the coach alternative, not least as it’s become another hotbed of competition with Flixbus challenging CityLink’s dominance with a new dedicated half hourly service between the two cities.

CityLink has responded by increasing the frequency of its high profile “24 hour shuttle” route 900 to every 12 minutes and is emphasising the ability to just turn up and pay on departure whereas tickets for FlixBus have to be purchased online in advance.

And in what appears to be a rather strange piece of pricing, CityLInk is currently charging £10 return and £10.50 single so I can’t imagine anyone buying the latter. Flixbus were charging £9.49 single when I travelled on Wednesday 24th June which seems to be the going rate for a turn-up-and-go fare but I see some prices for journeys on future dates are quoted at £5.99. However, there’s also a £1 “service fee” and you can pay extra to reserve one of the front few rows of seats (which can be as much as another £2.99) and even more if you want to block out the seat next to you so you can enjoy putting your bag on a seat and be neighbour free – this can cost a whopping £7.28 for an immediate departure, making for an expensive alternative to CityLink with its five departures an hour timetable.

CityLink’s route 900 and Flixbus’s route numbered 090 leave from almost adjacent stances in Buchanan Bus Station (49 and 51 respectively) with the former going to plain “Edinburgh” and the latter signed to go to “Edinburgh Bus Stati“.

I saw the CityLink departure at 15:54 leave with around 30 passengers on board and it was obvious passengers were just turning up as the minutes went by without regard to actual departure times – the higher frequency certainly is working in CityLink’s favour.

The company also had staff selling tickets and giving out information to passengers at the departure stance.

Flixbus’s next departure was at 16:05 with CityLink’s at 16:06 but as the minutes clicked by towards that timing clash the CityLink member of staff announced its departure had been cancelled and the next coach would be at 16:18.

I decided to give Flixbus a try and quickly bought a ticket on my phone as the coach arrived from its previous journey at 16:00. The route is operated by McGills and I spotted a driver who was obviously waiting to take over the coach for the journey to Edinburgh.

However, there was a problem getting the door to open but eventually this was achieved and 17 passengers boarded but the drivers didn’t changeover in the bus station as expected but as we left at 16:08…

… the expected new driver also hopped aboard and then they did a switch over while the coach was waiting at a red traffic light just outside Buchanan Bus Station which seemed very odd.

With the original driver hopping off and new driver behind the wheel we were soon on the M8 heading to Edinburgh with slow moving traffic on the opposite carriageway into Glasgow probably explaining the cancellation of the 16:06 departure.

CityLink advertises its five departures an hour as either going via Eurocentral Business Park (three an hour) or Baillieston (two an hour) both just off the M8 (evening journeys do both) with Flixbus journeys diverting off the motorway to serve Newhouse (Park and Ride)…

…Harthill Services (also served by CityLink’s 900)…

… and Knightsbridge Business Park and Premier Inn.

The first and third deviations each added five minutes to the journey time from leaving the M8 to rejoining with no-one alighting or boarding at the rather basic Park & Ride facility at Newhouse…

… one passenger alighting at Hathill services (who looked like a commuter but must involve driving to the next exit and doubling back in one direction of his travels)…

… and three boarded at the Premier Inn near Knightsbridge/Houston Industrial Estate.

The coach leaves the M8 at Junction 2 to enter Edinburgh along the A8 where Lothian’s Airlink and other bus routes dominate the scene.

We dropped off six passengers at various stops on the way into Edinburgh with five more alighting at the main stop in Princes Street from where the coach continues to the bus station.

Because of tinted windows it was difficult to see the loadings on CityLink’s double deck coaches which constantly passed us – every six minutes – heading towards Glasgow as we sped along the M8 to Edinburgh. It looked to me as though they were carrying around double the number of passengers than Flixbus per departure and with two and a half times the number of departures, thus keeping a decent market share.

We arrived into Edinburgh on time at 17:35 having taken an hour and 41 minutes for the journey. ScotRail’s half hourly trains via Falkirk High take 51 minutes and cost £16.60 single and £16.80 day return but for those with a Railcard a cheaper rate of £11.05 (single) or £11.15 (day return) makes the situation highly competitive not least as there are now no peak fares on ScotRail. Flixbus is not going away, that’s for sure, but CityLink are definitely working hard to keep their market share on this corridor, as they are with ember’s competition all over the network.

The finale to this bucket list adventure was to be a First Class journey home on the 09:00 from Edinburgh to King’s Cross on the Thursday morning. However, LNER had been sending me emails encouraging passengers “NOT TO TRAVEL” due to disruption expected from the heatwave that day so reluctantly, as it looked as though this trip was subject to jinxes, I decided to cancel that and take up the offer of a full refund and use the recompence for an early morning flight with easyJet back to Gatwick which cost pretty much the same price at around £90.

In the event the 09:00 departure was only delayed by 19 minutes but I was grateful to be home in Hassocks by late morning and out of the extreme heat and with thoughts turned to whether, and if so when, I’ll try again for a ride on route 506.

Roger French

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