Lowland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

operator in south eastern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and parts of

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. 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 operations of Midland Bluebird in a new company, First Edinburgh Ltd. As of 26 March 2017 these operations were transferred to West Coast Motors (trading as Borders Buses).

Operation

Scottish Bus Group buses in Kelso Bus Station, Scottish Borders September 1985

From its head office in

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

, Lowland Scottish operated throughout the Scottish Borders and parts of Lothian in south east

and across the border into

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

in north east

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, bounded by

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

to the north,

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

to the west and

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...

in the east. Lowland Scottish operated from depots in the towns of

, Haddington,

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...

, Kelso,

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...

and

. Principal services linked these towns with

and with each other, along with a limited number of urban services in the larger towns and other rural or schools services. The most important route in the Borders was Service 95, linking Edinburgh and Carlisle, branded as the ''Borders Rail Link'' bus service.

History

LOWLAND SCOTTISH - Flickr - secret coach park

Lowland Scottish Omnibuses Limited was created in 1985 as part of the reorganisation of the state owned

Scottish Bus Group The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland. The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to S ...

(SBG) in preparation for deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, and eventual privatisation. It inherited the south-eastern depots and operations of Scottish Omnibuses Limited (

Eastern Scottish Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. was a bus and coach operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland and a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group (formerly SMT Group). Eastern Scottish was formed in June 1985 from the main part of Scottish Omnibuses, Scott ...

), in the Scottish Borders, eastern East Lothian and Berwick-upon-Tweed. The new company introduced a new livery similar to the

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

and

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

Eastern Scottish colours, but using a brighter green and a more striking

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...

. Upon formation, Lowland initially faced no significant competition, thanks largely to its sparsely populated operating area. Town services within Berwick-upon-Tweed continued to be shared with recently privatised Northumbria Motor Services, with Lowland and Northumbria having adjacent depot buildings fronting a shared bus station. This working relationship had been built up between the companies' predecessors, Scottish Omnibuses (SMT/Eastern Scottish) and United Automobile Services. Lowland Omnibuses bus 1896 (NDL 656R), SVBM 17 Aug 2013

Lowland Omnibuses bus 1896 (NDL 656R), SVBM 17 Aug 2013

On deregulation, the relationship between Lowland and Northumbria in Berwick-upon-Tweed broke down, and fierce competition ensued between the two operators for several years. The 'bus war' eventually ended in the mid-1990s with Lowland pulling out of Berwick as part of an agreement between First and Cowie Group, by that time owners of Lowland and Northumbria respectively.

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Perryman's Buses. Lowland Scottish became the first of the SBG subsidiaries to be privatised when in August 1990 the company's management and employees bought the business for £3.1m through their holding company Reiver Ventures Ltd., the word "Scottish" then dropped from the company's legal and trading names at that time. Lowland had been a profitable unit within the SBG thanks largely to the limited competition in its rural territory, though this operating area did not give much scope for expansion. The company therefore sought to develop its coach business and to expand its presence in the more populated Lothians area. In 1991 the bus and coach business of Ian Glass Coaches was acquired, with a depot in Haddington. The depot in Dunbar closed shortly afterwards, as the East Lothian area operations were concentrated on Haddington. Smaller takeovers were of Shanks ('Border Travel') of Galashiels in 1992 and Grieve's Taxis of Hawick in 1993. Diversification included the acquisition of a van hire firm, and development of the PSV/HGV driving school business inherited from Shanks. The company also acquired an interest in Lothian Transit of Newtongrange, a low-cost operator running tendered bus services in the Edinburgh area.

Demise

In November 1994,

GRT Group :''This article describes the bus group, for the Grampian Regional Transport bus company and successors/predecessors, see First Aberdeen'' GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when Gr ...

(which later became

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Eastern Scottish Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. was a bus and coach operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland and a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group (formerly SMT Group). Eastern Scottish was formed in June 1985 from the main part of Scottish Omnibuses, Scott ...

(now trading as SMT once more) the previous month, and with its ownership of Midland Bluebird (the old

Midland Scottish Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from part of W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd, and operated until 1991 when it was renamed Midland Bluebird Ltd. Operation F ...

), GRT operated across a substantial part of central Scotland, from Oban in the west coast to the border with England. Reorganisation of the three companies quickly followed, breaking SMT in two and merging the parts with Midland and Lowland. As a result, Lowland inherited SMT's Dalkeith and Musselburgh depots in 1996. This changed the focus of the company from a rural operator serving the Borders to one dominated by suburban services around Edinburgh, and coincided with the start of a gradual retrenchment in the south which eventually resulted in the closure of all of the Borders depots except Galashiels. When the 'First' corporate style was introduced, the trading names First Lowland and First SMT were used, the latter being restricted to the former SMT operations around Edinburgh. A final round of reorganisation in 1999 saw Lowland Omnibuses absorbed into Midland Bluebird Ltd and a new company, First Edinburgh Ltd. Subsequently

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Borders Buses Borders Buses operates both local and regional bus services in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and Scottish Borders, Scotland, as well as Cumbria and Northumberland, England. It is a subsidiary of West Coast Motors. History T ...

now cover virtually all the major routes once run by Lowland, with the exception of those in East Lothian.

References

{{Transport in Edinburgh 1985 establishments in Scotland British companies established in 1985 Transport companies established in 1985 1999 disestablishments in Scotland British companies disestablished in 1999 Transport companies disestablished in 1999 1990 mergers and acquisitions 1994 mergers and acquisitions Former bus operators in Scotland Defunct companies of Scotland Transport in the Scottish Borders Transport in Edinburgh Transport in Midlothian Transport in East Lothian

Operation

History

Demise

See also

References