Lothian Buses

Central Garage on Annandale Street was initially built for the industry exhibition of 1922. In 1926, Edinburgh Corporation Transport bought the building to home its fleet of 80 buses and 20 city cars, including the Lord Provost’s Rolls Royce. The garage was extended in 1933 and then again in 1963. By this time nearly 250 buses operated out of the Central Garage, which has a very distinctive roof dome.

Still to this day, the building serves as home of Lothian Buses. Over 900 colleagues, including drivers, engineers, catering and head office teams, work out of Annandale Street on a daily basis. The impressive Control Room at Central Garage is at the heart of our operation, where all buses are monitored for time-keeping and a watchful eye is kept over traffic conditions and incidents.

Activities

For younger visitors, there will be face painting, soft play, various games and activities, plus the welcome return of the ever-popular bus wash tours!

Older visitors will get the chance to learn about the history of the building, take a trip down memory lane by boarding and exploring some vintage buses, or grab a piece of Lothian merchandise from the pop-up shop.

Also in attendance will be our Charity of Choice, VOCAL (Voice of Carers Across Lothian), representatives from the emergency services, and some other surprise guests.

We look forward to seeing you there!
We will have guided bus tours of the garage as well as trips through the bus wash.