Eastern Scottish
Encyclopedia
Eastern Scottish, of Edinburgh, Scotland
, was a bus and coach operator and a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group
(formerly SMT Group). Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. was formed in June 1985 from the main part of Scottish Omnibuses Ltd., which had itself traded as 'Eastern Scottish' since the 1960s. Following privatisation in 1990 the company traded as 'SMT' reviving the original name of the company (Scottish Motor Traction
). It operated until 1999, when it became part of First Edinburgh
.
, Eastern Scottish had an operating area throughout the Lothian
s, in the east of Scotland
, bounded by the Firth of Forth
to the north and east, Bathgate
in the west, and Gorebridge
in the south.
Eastern operated urban, interurban and rural services in and around Bathgate, Livingston
, Dalkeith
and Musselburgh
, and services within the city of Edinburgh
. Depots were also located in these towns.
Eastern was also active in the coaching business, operating day tours and private hires, as well as providing coaches for Scottish Citylink
express from Edinburgh to Glasgow
, Aberdeen
, Inverness
, London
and many other locations throughout Scotland and England
.
Subsequently, "Scottish Omnibuses", "Scottish", and then "Eastern Scottish" fleetnames were used. The SMT name remained in Edinburgh parlance long after the change of fleet name, and survived on an unrelated car dealership showroom on Lothian Road, Edinburgh.
With nationalisation some rationalisation of SMT Group operations took place. The SMT Company's isolated operations in the Dundee area did not pass to Scottish Omnibuses, but instead passed to sister company W. Alexander and Sons Ltd.
In the Edinburgh area this history resulted in SMT/Eastern Scottish retaining the right to carry passengers within the city boundary (contrast Glasgow where only pickup outward and set-down inward were permitted). The cessation of tramway operation in Edinburgh (which at one time extended through Musselburgh to Port Seton) was accompanied by service reallocations, making Musselburgh exclusive to SMT/Eastern Scottish, and takeover of Gilmerton services by the corporation buses, albeit with competition from Eastern Scottish' Birkenside and some Rosewell services.
In 1958 Lowland Motorways of Glasgow was taken over, with various local services in the east side of the city. Another acquisition in the west of Scottish Omnibuses' territory was Baxter's Bus Service of Airdrie in 1962, with local services in the Airdrie and Coatbridge areas. These purchases significantly increased the company's presence in the Lanarkshire and Glasgow area. The final significant takeover was that of Stark's Motor Service of Dunbar in 1964. Stark's had operated some of its services jointly with Scottish Omnibuses for some years, and a proportion of its fleet was already painted in SMT livery.
When the Baxter's business was acquired, adverse public reaction to the repainting of buses into Scottish Omnibuses livery led to a decision to retain the Baxter's identity and blue livery for buses based at Victoria depot and used on town services around Airdrie and Coatbridge. The Stark's livery, a lighter shade of green than that used by Scottish Omnibuses, was retained for buses at Dunbar and North Berwick. Both local identities disappeared in the late 1970s when the SBG's new corporate fleetname style was introduced ("Eastern SCOTTISH", with a Saltire logo).
SMT and Scottish Omnibuses had long been a major operator of long-distance coach services, usually in cooperation with English operators such as Gray/Green, Midland red and Ribble, using the Eastern Scottish fleetname and green/cream livery. Dual-purpose coaches were prefixed Z and carried a 50/50 green/cream livery, and tour coaches were prefixed Y and carried a majority cream livery. A marketing feature was the operation of 2 and 3 day tours between London and Edinburgh, available as single or return journeys. This business was supported by a permanent sales office in London, operated by Eastern Scottish-uniformed staff.
A unique black/yellow livery on Bristol VR vehicles serving Edinburgh-London in the 1970s. Western SMT, with fleetname Western Scottish, paralleled this service from Glasgow, using identical vehicles in a black/white livery. From the mid 1970s Scottish Bus Group policy increasingly saw such services operated with a corporate SBG identity rather than the individual names and liveries of the subsidiary operating companies. Initially, SBG coaches used on express services to London received a special blue and white livery with "SCOTTISH" branding; in the early 1980s most other express services were branded "Scottish Citylink" with a two-tone blue and yellow livery.
In addition to these there were several sub-depots in the Borders area, including Hawick (Dovecote Street), Jedburgh (Castle Gate), Selkirk (Mill Street) and Melrose. Changes to depots over the years comprised:
, whilst Airdrie (Clarkston) depot was passed to Central Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
, Linlithgow depot passed to Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd., and Baillieston depot was closed (its vehicles and operations being transferred briefly to the Stepps depot of Midland Scottish, pending further reorganisation to create Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
). The licenses for express coach services passed to the new Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd.
, and Marine Works passed to another new SBG subsidiary company, SBG Engineering Ltd. The remnant of Scottish Omnibuses, comprising the core of the former company's territory in the Lothians area, with the depots at Bathgate, Dalkeith, Edinburgh, Livingston and Musselburgh, was renamed Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. Eastern Scottish retained the traditional green
and cream
livery
for its fleet
.
Upon deregulation, Eastern Scottish faced little to no competition outside Edinburgh, despite a highly urbanised operating area. Within Edinburgh, Eastern found itself sparring with the larger, dominant city operator, Lothian Regional Transport (LRT), for a larger share of the city traffic. In late 1986 Eastern introduced nine new routes within Edinburgh, some of which closely mirrored sections of existing LRT routes. These were numbered C1-C9 and the buses carried "City Sprinter" fleetnames. Route C5 also ran a slightly different route badged as C55. Some routes were operated by a fleet of 70 Dodge minibuses
, whilst others used double deck buses, notably 25 secondhand ex-South Yorkshire Transport
Volvo Ailsa B55
with Irish-built Van Hool
-McArdle bodywork. Some of these routes only lasted for a short period.
LRT retaliated by extending services beyond the city boundary and deeper into Eastern's operating area. Together with the loyalty of the passengers to the familiar "madder" coloured fleet of the "corporation" (as LRT was still sometimes known), LRT's competitive tactics ensured that Eastern made no significant inroads to the city market. Despite competition between the two operators, bitter "bus wars" that broke out in other cities and towns across Scotland were largely avoided, and Eastern did not persevere with loss-making operations, but settled for economy by reducing use of St.Andrew Square Bus Station by running through the Edinburgh city centre to Charlotte Square, Haymarket and Silverknowes, and connecting traditional routes to Balerno and Wallyford end-to end (ironically adopting the LRT Route No.44).
of £
1.07m in 1989. In September 1990 the company was sold to its management and employees for £9.5m, making it the most expensive subsidiary in the sell-off. The company began trading as SMT once again, with a modern, stylised take on the traditional diamond logo
. Some investment in new vehicles and the introduction of "quality corridors", branded as 'Diamond Service', followed. Innovative use of minibuses competing on certain Edinburgh city routes were popular but short-lived. Competitive attack on city routes using double -deckers was unsuccessful against the economy of scale available to Lothian Buses (LRT), lack of route coverage to make season ticket purchase attractive, and customer loyalty.
In October 1994 the GRT Group
, which later became First Group, bought the company for £10.3m. In 1996, the company, now trading as First SMT, was broken up and merged into neighbouring First Group subsidiaries Midland Bluebird Ltd (formerly Midland Scottish
) and Lowland Omnibuses (formerly Lowland Scottish) to form First Edinburgh
, trading simply as First. Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd ceased trading as an independent concern.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, was a bus and coach operator and a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group was a state-owned Scottish holding company that included a number of bus operators covering the whole of Scotland. The group was formed in 1961 as Scottish Omnibuses Group Ltd, to take control of the British Transport Commission's bus operating subsidiaries in Scotland...
(formerly SMT Group). Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. was formed in June 1985 from the main part of Scottish Omnibuses Ltd., which had itself traded as 'Eastern Scottish' since the 1960s. Following privatisation in 1990 the company traded as 'SMT' reviving the original name of the company (Scottish Motor Traction
Scottish Motor Traction
Scottish Motor Traction was founded in Edinburgh in 1905. It operated buses in much of central Scotland. Aside from its traditional bus operations, it operated an air taxi service with a De Havilland Fox Moth between July 18 and October 31, 1932 and for many years owned Dryburgh Abbey Hotel...
). It operated until 1999, when it became part of First Edinburgh
First Edinburgh
First Edinburgh is a bus operator which operates in the south east and central Scotland, and was created by the merger of three companies: Lowland Scottish, Eastern Scottish and Midland Scottish to form a single company for the area and is part of First Group plc...
.
Operation
From its head office on New Street, EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Eastern Scottish had an operating area throughout the Lothian
Lothian
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
s, in the east of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, bounded by the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
to the north and east, Bathgate
Bathgate
Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the M8 motorway west of Livingston. Nearby towns are Blackburn, Armadale, Whitburn, Livingston, and Linlithgow. Edinburgh Airport is away...
in the west, and Gorebridge
Gorebridge
Gorebridge is a former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. The village gets its name from the bridge across the River Gore, a tributary of the South Esk. It was once the home of Scotland's first gunpowder mill, at the Gore Water, commencing operation in 1794.Gorebridge has an annual gala day....
in the south.
Eastern operated urban, interurban and rural services in and around Bathgate, Livingston
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...
, Dalkeith
Dalkeith
Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the River North Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540...
and Musselburgh
Musselburgh
Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...
, and services within the city of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Depots were also located in these towns.
Eastern was also active in the coaching business, operating day tours and private hires, as well as providing coaches for Scottish Citylink
Scottish Citylink
Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd is a long distance express coach operator in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland . The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group in June 1985...
express from Edinburgh to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and many other locations throughout Scotland and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
The Scottish Motor Traction Company Ltd. (trading as "SMT") was formed in 1905, and expanded quickly through a series of takeovers to become the principal bus operator in south east Scotland. By the 1930s SMT was also the parent company of the SMT Group, whose other subsidiaries operated buses elsewhere in Scotland. In 1949 the SMT Group's bus operations were nationalised, and the SMT Company was renamed Scottish Omnibuses Ltd., although the SMT name remained in use until the early 1960s in the east, and was retained even longer in the Western SMT and Central SMT operating units of the Scottish Bus Group.Subsequently, "Scottish Omnibuses", "Scottish", and then "Eastern Scottish" fleetnames were used. The SMT name remained in Edinburgh parlance long after the change of fleet name, and survived on an unrelated car dealership showroom on Lothian Road, Edinburgh.
With nationalisation some rationalisation of SMT Group operations took place. The SMT Company's isolated operations in the Dundee area did not pass to Scottish Omnibuses, but instead passed to sister company W. Alexander and Sons Ltd.
In the Edinburgh area this history resulted in SMT/Eastern Scottish retaining the right to carry passengers within the city boundary (contrast Glasgow where only pickup outward and set-down inward were permitted). The cessation of tramway operation in Edinburgh (which at one time extended through Musselburgh to Port Seton) was accompanied by service reallocations, making Musselburgh exclusive to SMT/Eastern Scottish, and takeover of Gilmerton services by the corporation buses, albeit with competition from Eastern Scottish' Birkenside and some Rosewell services.
In 1958 Lowland Motorways of Glasgow was taken over, with various local services in the east side of the city. Another acquisition in the west of Scottish Omnibuses' territory was Baxter's Bus Service of Airdrie in 1962, with local services in the Airdrie and Coatbridge areas. These purchases significantly increased the company's presence in the Lanarkshire and Glasgow area. The final significant takeover was that of Stark's Motor Service of Dunbar in 1964. Stark's had operated some of its services jointly with Scottish Omnibuses for some years, and a proportion of its fleet was already painted in SMT livery.
When the Baxter's business was acquired, adverse public reaction to the repainting of buses into Scottish Omnibuses livery led to a decision to retain the Baxter's identity and blue livery for buses based at Victoria depot and used on town services around Airdrie and Coatbridge. The Stark's livery, a lighter shade of green than that used by Scottish Omnibuses, was retained for buses at Dunbar and North Berwick. Both local identities disappeared in the late 1970s when the SBG's new corporate fleetname style was introduced ("Eastern SCOTTISH", with a Saltire logo).
SMT and Scottish Omnibuses had long been a major operator of long-distance coach services, usually in cooperation with English operators such as Gray/Green, Midland red and Ribble, using the Eastern Scottish fleetname and green/cream livery. Dual-purpose coaches were prefixed Z and carried a 50/50 green/cream livery, and tour coaches were prefixed Y and carried a majority cream livery. A marketing feature was the operation of 2 and 3 day tours between London and Edinburgh, available as single or return journeys. This business was supported by a permanent sales office in London, operated by Eastern Scottish-uniformed staff.
A unique black/yellow livery on Bristol VR vehicles serving Edinburgh-London in the 1970s. Western SMT, with fleetname Western Scottish, paralleled this service from Glasgow, using identical vehicles in a black/white livery. From the mid 1970s Scottish Bus Group policy increasingly saw such services operated with a corporate SBG identity rather than the individual names and liveries of the subsidiary operating companies. Initially, SBG coaches used on express services to London received a special blue and white livery with "SCOTTISH" branding; in the early 1980s most other express services were branded "Scottish Citylink" with a two-tone blue and yellow livery.
Depots
Depot codes were introduced in the 1930s. At the time of nationalisation the principal depots were:- A Edinburgh (New Street)
- B Bathgate (Whitburn Road)
- C (formerly Dundee)
- D Galashiels (Duke Street)
- E Kelso (Roxburgh Street)
- F Linlithgow (High Street)
- G Dalkeith (High Street)
- H Clarkston Depot, Airdrie (Connor Street)
- I Broxburn (East Main Street)
- J Berwick-upon-Tweed (Marygate)
- K Peebles (Innerleithen Road)
- L (formerly Carlisle)
- W Musselburgh (Mall Avenue)
In addition to these there were several sub-depots in the Borders area, including Hawick (Dovecote Street), Jedburgh (Castle Gate), Selkirk (Mill Street) and Melrose. Changes to depots over the years comprised:
- 1957: Hawick elevated to full depot status (code L)
- 1960: new Baillieston (Station Road) depot opened (code C), partly to operate services taken over from Lowland Motorways
- 1962: new engineering works and body shop opened at Marine Gardens (Seafield Road), Edinburgh
- 1962: Victoria Depot, Airdrie (Gartlea Road) taken over with Baxter's business (code V)
- 1963: Melrose sub-depot closed
- 1964: Dunbar (Countess crescent) depot (code S) and North Berwick (Tantallon Road) sub-depot taken over with Stark's business;
- late 1960s: Dalkeith depot replaced by new combined depot/bus station at Eskbank Road (code G)
- 1971: Selkirk sub-depot closed
- 1979: Broxburn depot replaced by new combined depot/bus station at Livingston (Almondvale South) (code N)
- 1979: Airdrie Victoria depot closed
Deregulation
In preparation for deregulation in 1986, and eventual privatisation, the Scottish Bus Group was reorganised in 1985. The Scottish Omnibuses operations from Berwick, Dunbar, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh, Kelso, North Berwick and Peebles depots passed to a new company, Lowland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.Lowland Scottish
Lowland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operator in south eastern Scotland and parts of northern England. The company was formed in 1985 and operated under the identities Lowland Scottish, Lowland and First Lowland / First SMT, until 1999 when the company's operations were combined with the...
, whilst Airdrie (Clarkston) depot was passed to Central Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
Central Scottish
Central Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Central SMT Company Ltd, and operated until July 1989 when it was merged with Kelvin Scottish to form Kelvin Central Buses.- Operation :...
, Linlithgow depot passed to Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd., and Baillieston depot was closed (its vehicles and operations being transferred briefly to the Stepps depot of Midland Scottish, pending further reorganisation to create Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
Kelvin Scottish
Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group based in Bishopbriggs, Strathclyde, Scotland. It was formed in March 1985 from parts of Walter Alexander & Sons Ltd and Central SMT, initially with six depots and a varied fleet of 381 vehicles.The company...
). The licenses for express coach services passed to the new Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd.
Scottish Citylink
Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd is a long distance express coach operator in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland . The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group in June 1985...
, and Marine Works passed to another new SBG subsidiary company, SBG Engineering Ltd. The remnant of Scottish Omnibuses, comprising the core of the former company's territory in the Lothians area, with the depots at Bathgate, Dalkeith, Edinburgh, Livingston and Musselburgh, was renamed Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. Eastern Scottish retained the traditional green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
and cream
Cream (colour)
Cream is the colour of the cream produced by cattle grazing on natural pasture with plants rich in yellow carotenoid pigments, some of which are incorporated into the cream, to give a yellow tone to white. Cream is the pastel colour of yellow, much like as pink is to red. Cream is used as a skin...
livery
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
for its fleet
Fleet vehicles
Fleet vehicles are groups of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business or government agency, rather than by an individual or family. Typical examples are vehicles operated by car rental companies, taxicab companies, public utilities, public bus companies, and police departments...
.
Upon deregulation, Eastern Scottish faced little to no competition outside Edinburgh, despite a highly urbanised operating area. Within Edinburgh, Eastern found itself sparring with the larger, dominant city operator, Lothian Regional Transport (LRT), for a larger share of the city traffic. In late 1986 Eastern introduced nine new routes within Edinburgh, some of which closely mirrored sections of existing LRT routes. These were numbered C1-C9 and the buses carried "City Sprinter" fleetnames. Route C5 also ran a slightly different route badged as C55. Some routes were operated by a fleet of 70 Dodge minibuses
Dodge 50 Series
The Dodge 50 Series, later known as the Renault 50 Series were light commercial vehicles produced in the UK by Chrysler Europe and later Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1979 and 1993....
, whilst others used double deck buses, notably 25 secondhand ex-South Yorkshire Transport
South Yorkshire Transport
South Yorkshire Transport was formed in 1986, as a result of deregulation of bus services in the UK. The South Yorkshire PTE was no longer allowed to operate buses itself, so an arms length operating company was created....
Volvo Ailsa B55
Volvo Ailsa B55
The Volvo Ailsa B55 was a front-engined double-decker bus chassis built in Scotland by Ailsa, Volvo's British commercial vehicle agency. It was in production from 1973 to 1985, and was a relatively successful alternative to the ubiquitous rear-engined Bristol VR, Leyland Atlantean and...
with Irish-built Van Hool
Van Hool
Van Hool NV is a Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers.The company was founded in 1947 by Bernard van Hool in Koningshooikt, nearby Lier, Belgium. In the early years, the company introduced serial production and exported their products all over Europe...
-McArdle bodywork. Some of these routes only lasted for a short period.
LRT retaliated by extending services beyond the city boundary and deeper into Eastern's operating area. Together with the loyalty of the passengers to the familiar "madder" coloured fleet of the "corporation" (as LRT was still sometimes known), LRT's competitive tactics ensured that Eastern made no significant inroads to the city market. Despite competition between the two operators, bitter "bus wars" that broke out in other cities and towns across Scotland were largely avoided, and Eastern did not persevere with loss-making operations, but settled for economy by reducing use of St.Andrew Square Bus Station by running through the Edinburgh city centre to Charlotte Square, Haymarket and Silverknowes, and connecting traditional routes to Balerno and Wallyford end-to end (ironically adopting the LRT Route No.44).
Privatisation
Eastern Scottish was one of the most profitable subsidiaries of the Scottish Bus Group, with an operating profitProfit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1.07m in 1989. In September 1990 the company was sold to its management and employees for £9.5m, making it the most expensive subsidiary in the sell-off. The company began trading as SMT once again, with a modern, stylised take on the traditional diamond logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
. Some investment in new vehicles and the introduction of "quality corridors", branded as 'Diamond Service', followed. Innovative use of minibuses competing on certain Edinburgh city routes were popular but short-lived. Competitive attack on city routes using double -deckers was unsuccessful against the economy of scale available to Lothian Buses (LRT), lack of route coverage to make season ticket purchase attractive, and customer loyalty.
In October 1994 the GRT Group
GRT Group
GRT Group plc was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom. Created in 1989 as a holding company to effect the buyout of Grampian Regional Transport , it grew by acquisition and in 1995 merged with Badgerline to create FirstBus plc, forerunner to worldwide transport company FirstGroup...
, which later became First Group, bought the company for £10.3m. In 1996, the company, now trading as First SMT, was broken up and merged into neighbouring First Group subsidiaries Midland Bluebird Ltd (formerly Midland Scottish
Midland Scottish
Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Walter Alexander and Sons Ltd, and operated until 1991 when it became Midland Bluebird Ltd.- Operation :...
) and Lowland Omnibuses (formerly Lowland Scottish) to form First Edinburgh
First Edinburgh
First Edinburgh is a bus operator which operates in the south east and central Scotland, and was created by the merger of three companies: Lowland Scottish, Eastern Scottish and Midland Scottish to form a single company for the area and is part of First Group plc...
, trading simply as First. Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd ceased trading as an independent concern.