Haddington Court Street

There are many options for travelling around Haddington and East Lothian by bus and rail.

There are several bus stops close to the hub on Court Street and High Street, with regular services to various parts of Haddington and neighbouring towns eg. Dunbar, North Berwick and Edinburgh. East Lothian is served by Lothian Buses, Borders Buses and East Coast Buses.

The closest train stations are East Lindon, about a 20-minute bus ride away. Use the Traveline Scotland journey planner to plan the most convenient route. There are different options for public transport fares, including:

• Travelling for free on buses in Scotland with a National Entitlement Card (e.g. under 22s or over 60s). A day ticket with East Coast Buses, who run most of the buses that stop near to the hub, is £5.50, and a single ticket is £2.20 (for latest fare and route information see the East Coast Buses website).

• ScotRail train tickets can be purchased at the station or on the ScotRail app. You may be able to buy a railcard or eligible for other discounted train tickets. Visit the ScotRail website for more information.

East Lothian is taking a joined-up approach to public and sustainable transport and working to create high-profile locations across the county which provide public, shared and active travel options alongside other facilities. In 2023, working with the Workforce Mobility Project, they identified the main bus stops which form focal points for sustainable transport in our towns and villages as journey hubs. Some of the more prominent examples can be found at:

• Wallyford (large interchange linking train services with local buses, parking and charging.)

• Brunton Hall (town centre hub, with buses, car club hire, taxis and car charging. Bike shop and parcel collection nearby)

• Pencaitland (village hub at Pencaitland Bowling Club. Local buses, car charging and community-run bike hire scheme)

You can walk or wheel to most places in and around Haddington. There are also green spaces nearby excellent for walking – Neilson Park is a 5-minute walk away and the walking paths along the River Tyne can be reached in 12 minutes as well.

Active East Lothian - Health & Wellbeing Walks

Health & Wellbeing Walks is part of East Lothian’s Ageing Well programme, which promotes healthy lifestyles for people over 50. The groups meet weekly for a walk of up to an hour, followed by an optional cuppa. They are led by trained Walk Leaders and are suitable for walkers of all ages and ability. You can discover more about Active East Lothian here.

Most places in Haddington can be reached by bike in around 8 minutes. You can plan your cycling route using the CycleStreets website or app.

If you are interested in a longer cycle ride, East Lothian boasts a whole variety of routes to choose from for all types and abilities, with quiet roads and little traffic. For information on routes and local cycling groups, check out the Cycling UK website.

Cycling UK

Cycling UK’s work in East Lothian focuses on promoting active travel for everyone by reducing barriers to walking, wheeling and cycling and encouraging people to use bikes for everyday journeys. Through their Connecting Communities programme, Cycling UK delivers free cycle training—from beginner confidence-building sessions to led rides on local routes—alongside bike and e-bike loans, adaptive cycle sessions and support for local groups to make cycling more accessible and enjoyable across the county. If you are interested in the programmes they run, check out the Cycling UK Facebook or message angie.kinghorn@cyclinguk.org

The project aims to work out how more people in Scotland can be supported to walk, wheel and cycle for short local journeys. The hub therefore needs to be near where people live, work or visit, or a combination of these things.  

The site on Court Street was chosen after an assessment process and site visit that looked at things like:

• Existing sustainable transport options (e.g. bus, cycling, walking, car club)

• Proximity to amenities (e.g. shops, parks and schools)

• Demographic factors including population density and level of deprivation

• Potential for more people to take journeys by public transport or walking or cycling

• Site gradient, pavement height etc.

Court Street scored highly in this assessment as it is a busy location with a main road, bus stops and a pedestrian area with shops and businesses close by.  As such, it has a high potential for modal shift to more sustainable types of transport.

No, the council is not funding the pop-up mobility hubs project. The funding for the project comes from South East of Scotland Transport Partnership’s People & Place Programme, which is a grant fund of Transport Scotland. The aim of the funding is to make it easier for more people in Scotland to walk, wheel or cycle for short, local journeys.  East Lothian Council has partnered with CoMoUK on the project as it aligns their Local Transport Strategy, as well as the council’s ongoing development of a network of similar Journey Hubs across the county. The council has given some staff time to support the project but has not provided any funding.

The hub will be in the area between Thursday 15 January and mid-March. It will then be moved to another area in the South East of Scotland and the parking spaces will revert to their usual function.

We are testing the pop-up hub across the South East of Scotland to see what works well and what does not to help people to walk, wheel and cycle more. Keeping pop-ups between 6 to 8 weeks means that we can try different types of location and also gives more people the benefit of having the pop-up in their area.

We delivered an information flyer to nearby households and businesses before the hub was installed and will be delivering update information flyers during the pop-up. We have obtained the relevant permit from the council to occupy the space. We will be running a survey on the hub throughout the duration of the pop-up, which you can access at: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/haddingtoncourtstreet/

The project aims to work out how more Scots can be supported to walk, wheel and cycle for short local journeys. The hub therefore needs to be near where people live, work or visit. We have acquired the permit required to occupy the parking bays and they will revert to public parking bays after the pop-up ends.

The hub features: 

• Accessible seating to allow those with mobility needs (or anyone else) to rest while walking

• Bike repair stand and pump

• Bike docking station  

• Colourful planting and greenery

• Free walking and cycling events for the community while the hub is in the area

This is our 20th pop-up across Scotland, and none so far have resulted in any major issues relating to antisocial behaviour or littering for residents. However, we will respond to any issues raised (see below for how to contact us) and our Edinburgh-based team will check on the hub regularly.

Any events held at the hub will be during the daytime and very occasional. Footfall should not be more than would be expected for a location that is a busy pedestrian and cyclist thoroughfare for people heading to nearby shops and businesses. Longer events will be held at a nearby venue. See the events section of the pop-up web page to view more details about where events are being held.

If you have an urgent concern to report about the hub, you can email scotland@como.org.uk or call 07553355519 between Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm. If you would like to share your opinion on the hub, positive, negative or neutral, you can fill in our survey, which can be accessed at https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/haddingtoncourtstreet/. By filling in the survey, you can also be entered into a prize drawer to win a £25 online shopping voucher.

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