Richard Walter shares some scenes from in and around Edinburgh, where McGill’s has taken over services previously operated by First Scotland East, and initially adopted a livery which bears a remarkable similarity to established competing operator Lothian Buses and its subsidiaries
Back in September 2022, First Bus sold its First Scotland East business and all of its routes in the region to McGill’s Group. The sale included all First Bus depots in Livingston, Larbert, Bannockburn, Balfron, as well as the Edinburgh-based open-top operation of Bright Bus Tours. The company decided to introduce retro bus liveries from the era of former operators Eastern Scottish and Midland Bluebird which it felt reflected ‘iconic local buses of the past.’ Those vehicles based in the Stirling and Falkirk area were branded with a light blue and cream design as McGill’s Midland Bluebird which includes the iconic Bluebird emblem, whilst vehicles in West Lothian are appearing as McGill’s Eastern Scottish in a dark green and cream livery. Whilst the livery colours and scrolled fleetnames are certainly reminiscent of days gone by, the modern application has somewhat blended in with the current style of the Lothian Buses network in West Lothian and East Lothian as can be seen from the accompanying photographs, though as reported in last week’s news pages, McGill’s is to introduce a more modern livery on buses being refurbished for a number of routes in March.
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