Ember is a coach operator in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It operates the first electric intercity coach services in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

Ember was founded in 2019 by Pierce Glennie and Keith Bradbury, who previously worked for

iwoca iwoca Ltd. () is an online Fintech company based in London. It offers credit facilities to small businesses trading in the UK and Germany via an automated lending platform. CEO Christoph Rieche and CTO James Dear founded iwoca in October 2011 ...

. Glennie was inspired by a bus journey he took from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The name Ember was chosen because it describes "the end of fire". Ember's first route, between

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, was planned to start operating in March 2020, but this was set back by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

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 A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric b ...

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. It launched a route between Dundee and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in August 2022.

Routes

E1

Dundee Science Centre Dundee Science Centre (formerly known as Sensation) is a science centre located in Dundee, Scotland, and a part of the Scottish Science Centres Network. It is a registered charity under Scottish law. It is funded by the public and donations from ...

* Dundee Technology Park (pre-booked) *

Longforgan Longforgan is a village and parish in the Carse of Gowrie, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies west of Dundee on the main A90 road. History A record survives of Sir Patrick Gray, as Baron of Longforgan, holding a baronial court here in 13 ...

(pre-booked) *

Inchture Inchture ( gd, Innis Tùir) is a village in Scotland between Dundee and Perth on the northern side of the Firth of Tay. It is approximately nine miles (14 km) from Dundee city centre and 13 miles (21 km) from Perth. The village is bypa ...

(pre-booked) *

St Madoes St. Madoes () is a village in the Carse of Gowrie, Scotland. It was developed near Pitfour Castle. It is believed that there have been settlements since around 1000 C.E based on discoveries of several standing stones and the St. Madoes stone, a w ...

(pre-booked) * Walnut Grove (pre-booked) * Bridge of Earn (pre-booked) *

Kinross Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinross's origins are connect ...

Park & Ride * Rosyth (pre-booked) * Ingliston Park & Ride (pre-booked) *

Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo, formerly the Scottish National Zoological Park, is an non-profit zoological park in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The land lies on the south facing slopes of Corstorphine Hill, from which it provides extensive v ...

(pre-booked) *

Haymarket railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , symbol2 = edinburgh , image = New entrance to Haymarket station, Edinburgh.jpg , caption = New entrance to Haymarket railway station. , borough = Haymarket, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh , country ...

(pre-booked) *

St Andrew Square St Andrew Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland located at the east end of George Street. The gardens, part of the collection of New Town Gardens, are owned by a number of private owners, managed by Essential Edinburgh and opened to ...

E3

* Dundee Malmaison (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 Auchterarder (; gd, Uachdar Àrdair, meaning Upper Highland) is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Th ...

Gleneagles railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = File:Gleneagles Railway Station 5600886 60a5ad29.jpg , borough = Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross , country = Scotland , coordinates ...

(pre-booked) *

Greenloaning Greenloaning is a village in Perth and Kinross, Perthshire, Scotland. It lies by the Allan Water and the Stirling-Perth Railway line. It is south of Braco and north of Dunblane. The Allanbank Hotel existed as an inn between the 18th century a ...

(pre-booked) * Dunblane (pre-booked) * Stirling Castleview Park & Ride (pre-booked) *

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

Town Centre (pre-booked) * Greenfaulds High School (pre-booked) *

Buchanan bus station Buchanan bus station is the main bus terminus in Glasgow, Scotland. The bus station is the terminus for journeys between the city and other towns and cities in Scotland, as well as long-distance services to other parts of the United Kingdom ...

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 A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

journey from Ingliston.

Fleet

Ember's first two

Yutong TCe12 The Yutong TCe12, sold as the Yutong ICe12 in continental Europe, is a battery electric coach manufactured by Yutong in Zhengzhou since 2017 for international bus and coach operators. It is based on the same technology used in the Yutong E10 ...

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 January 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.

References

{{Bus operators in Scotland Bus operators in Scotland