Ember (coach operator)

Ember is a coach operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It operates the first electric intercity coach services in Scotland.

History
Ember was founded in 2019 by Pierce Glennie and Keith Bradbury, who previously worked for iwoca. Glennie was inspired by a bus journey he took from Namibia to South Africa. The name Ember was chosen because it describes "the end of fire".

Ember's first route, numbered the E1, between Dundee and Edinburgh, was planned to start operating in March 2020, but this was set back by the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the delivery of its first coach. Ember received a £490,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption loan via Triodos Bank, which allowed it to launch in October 2020 with two coaches. The coaches recharge at a Dundee City Council charging point at Greenmarket.

In February 2022, Ember was awarded £5,562,126 from the Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund for 26 battery electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure. Ember aims to develop a national network running between all the main cities in Scotland. The company launched a route between Dundee and Glasgow in August 2022. The route was numbered E3.

In July 2023, Ember ordered 14 tri-axle Yutong GTe14 electric coaches to join their all-electric fleet of Yutong coaches. The delivery of the GTe14 fleet will take the Ember fleet of Yutong battery-electric coaches to 38. In highlighting the significance of the order, co-founder Pierce Glennie emphasizes that their current Yutong TCe12 coaches have demonstrated high reliability, which has allowed them to develop an extensive zero-emission route network in less than three years. As of July 2024, two of these coaches have entered service, with the remainder being kitted out and branded.

In January 2024, the company introduced a new "short but useful" service between Dundee Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc & the city centre. Over 40 services run per day in each direction with three pre-booked stops along the way. Ember introduced the E10 service to enhance local connectivity, covering trips to and from its depot which would otherwise be dead mileage. This service is designed to connect with Ember's Edinburgh and Glasgow services, with the promise of future through ticketing.

In May 2024, Ember introduced a new express service, E3X, between Dundee, Perth City Centre and Glasgow with four services per day in each direction. This service started on the 7th May. Ember will also introduce the E1X operating between Dundee, Kinross, Edinburgh and Wallyford Park and Ride where it will use new chargers before returning to Dundee from the 14th.

E1 Dundee – Edinburgh

 * Dundee Science Centre (southbound start)
 * Dundee Railway Station (northbound terminus)
 * Dundee Technology Park (pre-booked)
 * Longforgan (pre-booked)
 * Inchture (pre-booked)
 * St Madoes (pre-booked)
 * Walnut Grove (pre-booked)
 * Bridge of Earn (pre-booked)
 * Kinross Park & Ride
 * Rosyth (pre-booked)
 * Ingliston Park & Ride  (pre-booked)
 * Edinburgh Airport (pre-booked) (late night/early morning services only)
 * Edinburgh Zoo (pre-booked)
 * Haymarket railway station
 * Edinburgh St Andrew Square

E1X Dundee – Wallyford

 * Dundee Science Centre (southbound start)
 * Dundee Railway Station (northbound terminus)
 * Kinross Park & Ride (pre-booked)
 * Edinburgh St Andrew Square
 * Wallyford Park & Ride

E3 Dundee – Glasgow

 * Dundee Science Centre (southbound start)
 * Dundee Railway Station (northbound terminus)
 * Dundee Technology Park (pre-booked)
 * Longforgan (pre-booked)
 * Inchture (pre-booked)
 * St Madoes (pre-booked)
 * Perth Broxden Park & Ride (pre-booked)
 * Auchterarder Gleneagles railway station (pre-booked)
 * Greenloaning (pre-booked)
 * Dunblane (pre-booked)
 * Stirling Castleview Park & Ride (pre-booked)
 * Cumbernauld Town Centre (pre-booked)
 * Greenfaulds High School (pre-booked)
 * Glasgow Buchanan bus station

E3X Dundee/Perth – Glasgow

 * Dundee Science Centre (southbound start)
 * Dundee Railway Station (northbound terminus)
 * Perth Canal Street (southbound)
 * Perth South Street (northbound)
 * Glasgow Buchanan bus station

E10 Dundee City Centre – MSIP

 * Dundee Railway Station (northbound start)
 * Dundee Science Centre (southbound terminus)
 * Cragiebank (pre-booked)
 * Arbroath Road (pre-booked)
 * Douglas Sainsbury's (pre-booked)
 * Dundee Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc

Tickets and fares
Tickets can be bought in advance on Ember's website up to 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time, but are also sold onboard at some stops. Most intermediate stops need to be booked 10 minutes before schedule to ensure that the bus will stop. Passengers with a Scottish National Entitlement Card travel for free. Through tickets are available to Edinburgh Airport, which includes a short tram journey from Ingliston.

Fleet
Ember's first two Yutong TCe12 battery electric coaches were delivered in 2020. A further two were added in 2021, and four more in 2022, funded by the Scottish Utra-Low Emission Bus Scheme. Ember plans to take delivery of fourteen Yutong GTe14 tri-axle electric coaches in early 2024 – the first operator to order the coach model. Ember was also awarded funding in March 2021 for four single-deck Arrival buses, the development of which was ultimately postponed in 2022. The company also had eight new additions to the fleet of Yutong TCe12s in 2023. Ember's buses feature grey with a green circle or are entirely grey.