SN05 HWKMcGills Midland Bluebird's First Barbie liveried Scania Omnidekka SN05 HWK (1806) is seen in Newmarket Street, Falkirk Town Centre 4.1.23 One of the most interesting bus operators in Central Scotland at the moment is McGill Scotland East. McGill took over operation of the Former First Scotland East franchise in September 2022, inheriting 257 buses in the process. By purchasing the Scotland East Franchise, McGill extended their reach as they already own McGills Scotland West, which is mainly based in the Inverclyde and Renfrewshire and Xplore Dundee, which covers the Dundee City area.
Routes and Depots
McGill Scotland East is split into 2 areas: Midland Bluebird and Eastern Scottish, both reviving heritage names and heritage liveries. Midland Bluebird is based at 3 depots: Larbert, Bannockburn and Balfron with Eastern Scottish being based at Livingston.
Livingston depot covers routes in West Lothian and Edinburgh, heading to places such as Shotts (North Lanarkshire), Fauldhouse, Whitburn, Blackridge, Armadale, Bathgate, Linlithgow, Balerno, Queensferry, Kirkliston and Deans
Larbert depot mainly covers routes around the Falkirk area to destinations such as Maddiston, Dunnipace, Bo'ness, Larbert, Grangemouth, Fankerton, Hallglen, Langlees, Forth Valley Hospital, Camelon, Denny, Slamannan, Edinburgh and Glasgow (via Cumbernauld).
Balfron depot mainly covers routes between Stirling and Glasgow via Balfron and Kippen or via Aberfoyle and Milngavie.
Bannockburn depot mainly covers routes around the Stirling area to destinations such as Cambusbarron, Callander, Alloa, Clackmannan, Cowie, Stirling University, St Ninnians, Raploch and Glasgow via Cumbernauld.
The fleet
As mentioned before, McGill inherited 257 buses of various types from First, including the Bright Bus tours operation in Edinburgh. On taking over, McGills had to withdraw 120 of the inherited fleet as they were deemed unsuitable for service. Some of the fleet were returned to service after repairs, however a number of them were replaced by buses from the reserve and withdrawn fleets from the West of Scotland and Xplore Dundee operations.
The current fleet includes:
Liveries
With it being early days in the new franchise and with buses having to be transferred in from other areas, there are a real mix of liveries on the fleet at the moment including
There are also various buses with route branding on them.
With the many bus types and liveries, McGills Scotland East are an interesting company to follow and ride on at the moment! It is best to take the opportunity to do this just now before the inevitable newer, more uniform buses come along and more of the new livery is seen!
Some examples of the current liveries are shown below, more can be found at: https://scottishtrains.zenfolio.com/p1057977495
SP54 CGODebranded National Express Dundee Read and White liveried Volvo B7TL Wright Eclispe Gemini SP54 CGO(2811) is seen stabled outside Bannockburn Depot 21.1.23 | SN65 OMDRecent transfer to Midland Bluebird, Xplore Dundee liveried but still carrying City Circle 360 route branding Wright Streetlite SF SN65 OMD (0481 former 0406) is seen stabled at Bannockburn Depot 20.1.23 | SP54 CHODebranded Xplore Dundee liveried Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Gemini SP54 CHO (2808) is seen at Bannockburn Depot 20.1.23 | YX09 AGUMidland branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 YX09 AGU (8052) is seen at Stirling Bus Station 20.1.23 |
SN65 CVLUnilink branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC SN65 CVL (8937) is seen at Stirling Bus Station 14.1.23 | SN15 ELCUnilink branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC SN15 ELC (8936) is seen at Stirling Bus Station 14.1.23 | SK63 KKLdebranded First liveried Streetlite SK63 KKL (0406) is seen in Newmarket Street, Falkirk Town Centre 13.1.23 | YN53 EFKMidland liveried Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini YN53 EFK (2847) is seen in Newmarket Street, Falkirk Town Centre 13.1.23 |
SN64 CJZMidland 2 toned blue with Falkirk branding and rear route 3/4 branded Streetlite SN64 CJZ (0448) is seen in Newmarket Street, Falkirk Town Centre 13.1.23 | SN05 HWSMidland Bluebird liveried Scania Omnidekka SN05 HWS (1814) at Stirling Bus Station 3.1.23 | YX65 PXFXplore Dundee liveried Alexander Dennis Enviro 200MMC is seen departing Stirling Bus Station 6.1.23 | SN05 HWHdebranded First Barbie liveried Omnidekka SN05 HWH (1807) leads a line of withdrawn Omnidekkas at Bannockburn depot |
SN66 WGVMidland Bluebird liveried AD Enviro 400 MMC SN66 WGV (8945) is seen at Stirling Bus Station 31.12.22 | SF55 TXCProbus SF55 TXC awaits its next duties at Stirling Bus Station 31.12.22 | SN05HWTMcGills Midland Bluebird Scania Omnidekka SN05 HWT (1815) in heritage Midland Scottish livery seen at Stirling Bus Station 31.12.22 | SF11 CWUMidland Bluebird lvieried Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse 2 SF11 CWU (2238) Stirling Bus Station |
SN57 JDKMidland liveried Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban SN57 JDK (2289) is seen in Newmarket Street, Falkirk Town Centre 4.1.23 | 66 XKWMcGills Heritage liveried Enviro 400 66 XKW (8960) is seen waiting to be put through the bus wash at Bannockburn depot 21.1.23 | SN62 AUUMidland liveried with Gold route branding Enviro 300 SN62 AUU (8493) at Stirling Bus Station | SN64 CKYMidland liveried Streetlite SN64 CKY (0446) is seen in Newmarket Street, Falkirk Town Centre 4.1.23 |
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