McGill's Midland Bluebird
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 Mercedes-Benz Citaro C2 in Glasgow city centre in July 2024 | |
| Parent | McGill's Bus Services |
|---|---|
| Founded | 19 September 2022 |
| Headquarters | Larbert, Fife, Scotland |
| Service area | |
| Service type | Bus and coach |
| Routes | 25 |
| Depots | 2 |
| Fleet | 257 (September 2022) |
| Chief executive | Tony Williamson |
| Employees | 550 (September 2022) |
| Website | www |
McGill's Midland Bluebird is a bus operator in Southern Scotland mainly serving Falkirk and Stirling. The company is a subsidiary of McGill's Bus Services.
On 6 September 2022, it was announced that McGill's had acquired the operations of First Scotland East from the FirstGroup. The company was rebranded to McGill's Scotland East, also trading as McGill's Midland Bluebird and McGill's Eastern Scottish.[1] The sale, completed on 19 September 2022, saw McGill's take on 550 employees, four depots and a fleet of 257 buses from the FirstGroup, including the Bright Bus Tours open top bus tour operation in Edinburgh.[2] Following the takeover, 120 of the buses acquired from First were deemed unsuitable for McGill's service and taken off the road, with some returning to service after repairs and some being replaced by vehicles transferred from other McGill's operations.[3]
McGill's announced in September 2023 that it was to close down their McGill's Eastern Scottish operation and would start ceasing most operations on services in Edinburgh and West Lothian between October and December. The company cited issues with driver recruitment and low passenger patronage, as well as traffic congestion and competition with the railways and Lothian Buses had led to the Eastern Scottish operation becoming unsustainable to operate.[4]
Operations
McGill's Midland Bluebird operate services in Falkirk and Stirling and to surrounding communities.[5]
Midland Bluebird also operate two open top bus routes in Edinburgh under the Big Bus Tours franchise. These were initially branded as BrightBus Tours prior to a rebrand in June 2025.[6] The company also operate Stirling's open top bus.[7][8]
X36/X37
Routes X36 and X37, running from Falkirk and Stirling respectively to Glasgow, are branded as 'Swift'. The route is run using Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC double-decker buses.[9]
UniLink
'UniLink' runs between Stirling town centre and the campus of the University of Stirling. The route is run using Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs.[10][11]
