Lothian Buses of Edinburgh Scotland, blames its calamitous profits collapse on tram-related roadworks. How many other operators can empathise with losses from large scale disruptions, sparking a passenger decline and revenue losses? Urban roadworks are rarely on the scale of Edinburgh's, but it does highlight the issue that operators face day in, day out. And the implications.

And it illustrates that a slum can happen anywhere, if it can happen to a strong business like Lothian's, which recorded record profits last time around and won Bus Operator of the Year.

Meanwhile, the resultant cuts are leading to a £300,000 public subsidy from the £2mil dividend paid by Lothian Buses to its council owners.