History of Edinburgh the meantime the Old Town continued to decay into an increasingly dilapidated, overcrowded slum with high mortality rates, and was practically segregated socially from the rest of the city. This was especially true where the sub-division of tenements offered the cheapest lodgings in narrow alleyways that formed the backdrop to the infamous 'West Port Murders' of Burke and Hare. In 1865 Alexander Smith wrote of one of the poorest districts, The Cowgate is the Irish portion of the city. Edinburgh leaps over it with bridges: the inhabitants are morally and geographically the lower orders. They keep to their own quarters,
Transport in Edinburgh There are two major bus operators in Edinburgh: Lothian Regional Transport was the precursor to Lothian Buses and was formed in 1986 after bus services were de-regulated by the Transport Act 1985. Lothian Regional Transport changed its title to Lothian Buses in 2000. It is a publicly owned company with Edinburgh City Council having the 91% controlling stake in the company with the remainder divided between the local authorities of Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian. Lothian Buses also run the Airport Express shuttle between Edinburgh Airport and the city centre, as well as a network of night buses operating